3rd Team Match Reports Hants Regional SW2
Bashley (Rydal) III 259-3 v Mudeford 83-10 played on 23 August 2008
Superb all round performance as Bashley 3 edge closer to promotion.
One of the sides better performances of the season if not the best as Bashley 3s tounced Mudeford 2s at Pennington on Saturday by 176 runs. With the home side electing to bat first on a wet pitch Phil Morris was instrumental in engineering a good position from which his team mates could organise a concerted accelleration in the latter half of the innings. Maher contributed with a fluent 62 not out. The most astonishiong piece of cricket of the day, and possibly the campaign came in Bashley's 42nd over when 6 sixes looked a distinct possibility. The first 5 deliveries of the over (one of them a no ball) were thrashed over the boundary for 6 by the flailing bat of Chris Vaughan before the hapless Mudeford bowler was able to stop this assault with a wide yorker that went for extras rather than another 6. The 31 taken from this over put Bashley is a strong position with 259-5 and also gave Vaughan a fifty from just 19 deliveries.
Mudeford's reply was regularly and frequently interrupted by the fall of wickets with Gunnell (4) Eede (3) Maher (2) and Paul (1) sharing the spoils. Despite not taking a wicket Dave Morris continued in parsimonious fashion conceding just 21 from his 10 overs. Young Jack Ransom had an excellent game with the gauntlets and his progress this season has been important in the team's success.
Bashley (Rydal) III 102-10 v Curdridge 103-4 played on 16 August 2008
Bashley (Rydal) travelled to Curdridge knowing that a win would guarantee a promotion place, but skipper John Ward forgot to tell his batsmen whose abject performance left the Bashley bowlers to perform a miracle surely not even a superman could deliver.
Winning the toss, skipper Ward elected to bat first and it soon became clear that runs were going to be difficult to come by. Openers Ward (20) and Josh Digby (37) played out six maidens before Ward took on the accurate bowling with some well timed blows before hoisting a ball to wide mid on off the bowling of Martin Emm. Digby who was eventually run out by a furlong lost partners on a regular basis with only Callum Maher (13) the only other bat to manage double figures. Bashley were all out for their lowest total of the season in the 37th over for 102.
If Curdridge thought at tea it was going to be a stroll in the park, Dave Morris had other ideas. His 12 overs cost just a miserly 11 runs, but with a catch that didn’t stick . . . . . and bails that did despite the stumps being rattled by the ball off the bat, it was not going to be Superman’s day. When Maher picked up two wickets in two balls it looked as though Bashley were in with a chance, but Curdridge eased home with 13 balls to spare.
The Bashley boys are now left requiring one more win from their last two games against Mudeford and Rowner to secure promotion the County Division 4.
CBBEA 123-10 v Bashley (Rydal) III 124-7 played on 2 August 2008
CBBEA decided to bat first on probably one of the worst pitches in the league and lost wickets regularly and frequently to the Bashley attack led as usual by the ever accurate Dave Morris who conceded a miserly 28 from his 12 overs and also took 3 wickets in 7 balls. He was supported by Jason Eede (2-28), Bob Paul (2-16) and Will Gunnell (2-17) including the wicket of the most dangerous batsmen ably caught by Calum Maher. Maher had shaken this batsmen up earlier with some difficult short-pitched bowling so was probably pleased to be involved in his dismissal.
CBBEA's total of 123 was actually a testing one and Bashley completed victory by 3 wickets with Jason Eede showing considerable responsibility to bring home the bacon with an undefeated 24.
Bashley Rydal 121-0 v Ampfield 119-10 played on 26 July 2008
Another fine win for Bashley 3rd as they continue their quest for promotion taking full points from Ampfield.
Electing to bat first Ampfield were somewhat disorganised by the late arrival of a number of their team as a result of heavy holiday traffic. Some excellent bowling as usual from Dave Morris meant that wickets fell frequently without many runs being scored. He ended with 2-25 from his 12 overs and his economy also led to wickets from other members of the Bashley attack with the wickets being shared around amongst Jason Ede ( 3-30), Will Gunnell (3-29) and John Marsh (2-27). Surprisingly, veteran war horse Bob Paul was not required to turn his arm over!
Despite the relatively brisk start that Bashley made in reply to Ampfield's total of 119 the openers had to work hard for their runs, particularly Josh Digby who was given a testing working over and took several telling blows to various parts of the head and body. He eventually made 36 not out and with skipper, John Ward, scoring slightly more freely with an undefeated 78, Bashley ended convincing winners by 10 wickets with 10 overs to spare.
Sarisbury III 144-7 Bashley (Rydal) III 156-7 played on 21 June 2008
Bashley were invited to bat after Captain John Ward lived up to his growing reputation as a useless tosser by losing an inexplicable 8th consecutive coin toss.
Ward (19) and his fellow opener Josh Digby (16) made strong starts but both fell in the same ignominious way, to rank long hops from the Sarisbury bowling attack. As the chubby Steve Latimore (18) was trapped leg before wicket, it was left to the in-form Graham Pardey (55) to become the backbone of the innings. Nevertheless the scoring rate was still sluggish before Terry Steadman (31 n.o.) joined Pardey at the crease. Batting in the dying overs of the innings the pair gleefully crashed the ball around Sarisbury Green to score what was to be the only 50 partnership of the match.
Bashley entered the field fully aware that they needed to be on top of their game to defend their total on a pitch with a small boundary. Despite this, Bashley were below par in the early overs as Sarisbury comfortably kept up with the required run rate. Only when spinner Simon Dean (4-17) entered the fray did the game turn in Bashley’s favour. With Bob Paul (2-47) and Dean, who bravely fought off the unfortunate side effects of the previous nights Chinese takeaway, bowling in tandem Sarisbury’s flow of runs soon became a trickle. Some late order hitting left Sarisbury needing 20 off the last over, however, their rather quixotic hopes were dashed by Mike O’Sullivan’s (0-39) excellent ‘at the death’ bowling to give Bashley a hard fought victory.
Bashley (Rydal) 161-4 v Hamble ASSC II 159-7 played on 14 June 2008
Bashley were put into field by Hamble after luckless skipper John Ward lost an incredible 7th toss in a row.
The early exchanges saw Bashley’s bowlers toil away to no avail. It was opener Dave Morris who eventually provided the breakthrough, albeit in rather fortuitous fashion. In attempting to take a catch off his own bowling, with a flying dive reminiscent of superman, Morris deflected the ball onto the stumps, to run out the stranded Hamble batsman. Buoyed by their good fortune, Bashley took full advantage as Terry Steadman removed two batsmen and fellow spinner Simon Dean worked his magic to take a further wicket. Nevertheless, it was Bob Paul who bowled best, frustrating the batsmen by giving them no room to manoeuvre the ball. A Paul wicket and two run outs left Hamble on 159-7.
On a good Pennington wicket, 159 was always going to be tough to defend and so it proved to be thanks mainly to the batting of experienced duo Graham Pardey and Steve Latimore. It was Latimore who top-scored but the plaudits were reserved for Pardey who battled on heroically through a muscle strain. Neil Prince crashed a huge six towards the end to cap off another successful day for the thirds.
Bashley (Rydal) CC 193-4 v Bransgore 121-9 played on 7 June 2008
Bashley maintained their 100% record for 2008, winning by 72 runs on a balmy summer’s day in Bransgore.
Having been invited to bat, Bashley got off to an inauspicious start with the early loss of their skipper John Ward for 6. This brought Steve Latimore (29) to the crease whose combination of solid defence and the occasional lusty blow got Bashley’s innings moving. However it was Josh Digby (69) who became the linchpin of the innings. On a difficult batting track, the youngster showed excellent concentration to lay the foundations for a competitive total. Bashley eventually reached 193-4 off their allotted overs thanks to some vintage stroke play from Graham Pardey (30 n.o.) and a useful contribution from Terry Steadman (24 n.o.).
Bransgore began their run chase well, as their openers took the initiative with some powerful hitting. However, the runs soon began to dry up thanks to sharp fielding, good work behind the stumps by Jack Ransom and the bowling of the ever economical Dave Morris. It was Morris (1-30) who provided the breakthrough, bringing to an end an opening stand of 66. With the momentum shifting in Bashley’s direction, wily veteran Bob Paul was brought into the attack. His superb spell of 6-23 ripped through the heart of the middle order, removing any hopes of a Bransgore victory. John Marsh (1-11) and Steadman (1-3) took the other wickets as Bashley moved towards what was, in the end, a comfortable victory.
