Lost
| Batsmen | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Moore | Out | 81 | ||||
| Phil Collier | Out | 44 | ||||
| Bubbu Thava | Out | 16 | ||||
| Richard Moore | Out | 6 | ||||
| Fakhir Rashid | Out | 0 | ||||
| Nick Ashton | Out | 30 | ||||
| Ryan Pownall | Out | 24 | ||||
| Ben Zagorski | Out | 3 | ||||
| Marc Batista | Not Out | 9 | ||||
| Matt Hill | Out | 2 | ||||
| Phil Wilding | Not Out | 0 | ||||
| Extras | ||||||
| Bowling | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Moore | 2.0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6.50 | |
| Phil Collier | 4.0 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 9.50 | |
| Fakhir Rashid | 8.0 | 0 | 56 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| Nick Ashton | 7.0 | 0 | 44 | 4 | 6.29 | |
| Ryan Pownall | 7.0 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 7.14 | |
| Ben Zagorski | 4.0 | 0 | 28 | 2 | 7.00 | |
| Marc Batista | 4.0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 6.25 | |
| Matt Hill | 4.0 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 6.50 | |
| Extras | ||||||
| Fielder | Catches | Run Outs | Stumpings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Collier | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bubbu Thava | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Pownall | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Marc Batista | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Hill | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The match may well have been lost in the first minute, Ryan Pownall, who has become the fulcrum of the side with his inspirational bowling, fielding and batting, calling heads. So, in sweltering heat against a strong Harpsden team, who only just made it in time, we were asked to field first.
There were only two changes from the previous week, with Nigel Jackson and Ben Travers being replaced by Matt “Legend� Hill and Phil Collier, with Bu Thava, a GP in Henley, keeping his place behind the stumps.
The first 15 overs were torture for Mr Bati Batista, Phil, Ryan and Fahkir, with their opener, the spit of Retief Van der Walt and his partner, who I think was called Simon, dispatching every bad ball and some good ones to the boundary, and they soon raced to 115-0 before the first drinks break. Even the revving of Phil’s dad’s sportscar engine on the boundary side couldn’t put them off.
The introduction of spinner Nick Ashton tempted Retief to loft a hard catch to Legend at long-on, which he made look simple. Two expert leg side catches by Bu, who is a GP in Henley, off the bowling of Nick helped remove their middle order and an inspirational flying one-handed catch by Bati of Fahkir finally removed Simon. Some calm bowling and shared wickets by Legend, J Moore and Ben “Benski� Zagorski after the drinks break meant that Sonning CC were chasing 288 at a run rate of 7.2, but on this batting track anything was possible.
We got off to an incredible start, with Phil and J Moore putting on 66, before Phil, who had seen 2 off side and 2 leg side wides go past, got a surprise straight delivery from Greenwood and was leg before. Bu, who is a GP in Henley, came in at 3, but was soon returning to the pavilion after a short but sweet 16. R Moore was back soon too for 6, out to a terrific catch at second slip, which wasn’t quite as eye-catching as Mr Batista’s. Fahkir managed a duck, before, J Moore was joined at the crease by Nick and the pair managed to make the game interesting again. J Moore was finally out to another rare straight Greenwood delivery for an incredible innings of 81, that included 12 boundaries. Nick made 30 and Ryan 24, thanks to an incredible one-handed six that I am sure he won’t stop banging on about. This allowed Bati to come to the crease, entering the field from the other side of the ground due to an unexpected spectator. He made 9 not out under pressure, and surely this innings, under the watchful eye of President Phillips will go a long way to securing a promotion up the order, despite running Legend out for 2. Wildthing safely saw out the remainder of the game.
A fantastic match that could have gone either way, ended with Harpsden winning by 36 runs. Next match at home to BA…if we can find enough players.
Marc Batista
