Scorecard

Little Hallingbury Cricket Club Saturday Team v Hockerill II on Sat 14 May 2016 at 1.30pm
Little Hallingbury Cricket Club Won By 7 runs

Match report Sport has the capacity to engender emotions that is everyday life often remain hidden from the outside world. This is especially true of cricket where people give up whole days to test their skills against their opponents. Today’s match at Gaston Green between Little Hallingbury and Hockerill IIs was just one such game that demonstrated cricket and sportsmanship at a level that belied the players’ amateur status and, at moments, matched the very highest standards.

The weather in the build up to the game meant the square and strip was at its very best. Stewart Goold and Alex Turner opened the batting and after two tight overs, set about building an imposing total. Stewart once again set about crafting a skilful innings, making the best use of his tenacity and skill. Deft touches made the best use of gaps in the field as well as delivering some beautifully timed drives. Turner continued to prove to be his perfect foil, combining raw strength with exquisite timing he punch several shots through the cover region and lofted drives over long on. Berries, reached the drinks break with both the openers still at the crease and Hockerill IIs staring down the barrel of a large total, despite a tidy opening spell from Pete Francis.

With the score on 129, Alex fell soon after drinks without adding to his score of 70, falling LBW to Daar (2-66) after being hit on the pad by a full delivery from around the wicket. Tom’s patient wait for his chance was ended when another delivery from Daar pitched and straightened to evade a forward defensive shot a hit the off stump. Butt, who had replaced Francis in the Hockerill attack, opened up with four impressively tight overs, conceding just 4 runs and exerting some much needed control over the scoring rate. Jay Fensom had been promoted up the order in the hope of being able to benefit of Butt’s away swing with his languid off drives and inject fresh pace into the Hallingbury run rate. His running between the wickets, built upon Goold and Turner’s earlier work and he and Stewart added 50 for the third wicket. It was Stewart who succumbed with the score on 189, as a thick inside edge cannoned into his stumps ending a fine innings of 85, as he attempted to cover drive a Butt out-swinger.

Luke Rumble delivered an entertaining cameo of an innings, hitting his second ball for 6 off the hitherto economical Butt, and his efficient stay at the wicket yielded him 21 runs before he was caught off of Khalil. He was soon followed by Hallingbury’s skipper Sudip Kalyankar (7) at the end of the 41st over with the score on 237. Fensom was then joined by Williams, in an entertaining last 4 overs, which saw him reach his second 50 of the season, finish on 58 not out and Williams(13) taking 12 off Butt’s last over to see Berries muster 272-5.

Opening the innings for Hockerill, ‘keeper Alexis, signalled his intent by despatching several boundaries over the infield. A shorter pitched delivery form Rich Astwood (1-58) caught him slightly unawares as he looped a pull shot to backward of square, where Fensom need all of his agility to take a catch as the ball died on him. McKay followed relatively soon afterwards as a fine delivery from the economical Nick Thorne (1-37) skidded on and took him just above the ankle in front of middle and leg. Opener Curtis found solidity in his third partner Matt Hudson. Hudson was dropped twice in his innings and set his mind to take full advantage of those chances with some powerful straight drives. It was Curtis who fell first though as he chase a full, wide delivery from Fensom and toe ended a catch to Bharambe at cover.
Shahzoor looked ill at ease facing Fensom’s pace and after several attempts to play and miss, he succumbed by edging behind, leaving Hockerill at 106 for 4 and facing a required run rate of around 7.5 an over. At this point, Berries were in the ascendancy, but Hockerill’s tenacity shoe through. Despite losing, Hudson for 46 when he was unluckily bowled off his pad trying to pull a leg-side delivery from Kaylankar (1-32), Hockerill staged a remarkable rally. Both Daultrey and Butt made full use of the opportunities presented to them and shared a stand of 85 to reduce the run rate to 5 an over, before Butt was caught behind off of Bharambe. Khalil was bowled by Luke Rumble of his legs before a 46 run partnership between Daultrey and skipper Asim Waheed, saw Hockerill to within 17 runs of their target, with 6 overs remaining. Goold then caught Daultrey for 66 off of Rumble (2-29) to set up a finale that left Hockerill requiring 12 to win and Berries effectively requiring 2 wickets.

In a remarkable display of impartiality, Daar was given out LBW to a Fensom delivery that was hitting two thirds of the way up middle and leg, with Hockerill on 265-9. Francis and Asim pushed several singles and in the 44th over Asim pulled Fensom in front of square with a shot that came straight of the middle of the bat. The tension on the field was matched in the pavilion as cheers from the visitors went up in expectation of a boundary that would put them on the verge of victory. As Hallingbury steeled themselves to regroup for the final 3 runs of the game, Stewart Goold stretched out his left hand and summoned up the energy to fling his body towards the ball. In a moment that was scarcely believable Goold claimed a catch that could only be described as a “worldie” and with the satisfying sound of leather on skin.

Berries were naturally elated and swamped their man of the match, hardly able to believe that they had nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, only to snatch it back at the last minute. The undefeated run continues and we move onto High Beach next week, having learnt a lot about ourselves as team in terms of our frailties and resilience

Hockerill, for their part, were incredibly gracious in their defeat. It is truly humbling to play cricket against people such as these, who go out every weekend and truly keep the spirit of cricket alive. We look forward to the return fixture in 9 weeks.

Little Hallingbury Cricket Club Saturday Team Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 2w 3b 11lb 
for 5 wickets
17
272		        
Stewart Goold b Butt 85 8 2
Alex Turner lbw Daar 70 7 2
Tom Phipps b Daar 1
Jay Fensom Not Out  58 8 1
Luke Rumble ct Khalil 21 2 1
Sudip Kalyankar ct Khalil 7 1
Gareth Williams Not Out  13 2 2
Raj Bharambe   1
Philip Rowley  
Nick Thorne  
Rich Astwood  

Hockerill II Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Francis10.005100.005.10
Khalil8.0045222.505.63
Daar10.0066233.006.60
Butt10.0247147.004.70
A Waheed7.004600.006.57

Hockerill II Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 9w 10b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
22
265 (43.2 overs)		     
Alexis ct Fensom b. Astwood 14
Curtis ct Bharambe b. Fensom 35
McKay lbw Thorne 1
Hudson b Kalyankar 46
Shahzoor ct Williams b. Fenson 1
Daultry ct Goold b. Rumble 66
Butt ct Williams b. Rumble 48
Khalil b Rumble 1
A Waheed ct Goold b. Fensom 24
Daar lbw Fensom 1
Francis  

Little Hallingbury Cricket Club Saturday Team Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Rich Astwood10.0053153.005.30
Nick Thorne9.0237137.004.11
Jay Fensom9.2042410.504.50
Sudip Kalyankar9.0132132.003.56
Raj Bharambe3.0038138.0012.67
Luke Rumble3.0029214.509.67