BITTER SWEET WEEKEND FOR SPARSHOLT

What a difference a day makes, as the song goes. On Saturday, CALA Homes sponsored Sparsholt’s up and down league form continued as they were badly beaten by second placed Calmore Sports in blistering sunshine, but on Sunday they bounced back in the gloomy weather to move into the semi-final of the T20 Plate competition with a dramatic win at Fair Oak.

League – SPARSHOLT 145 all out lost to CALMORE SPORTS 146 for 2 by eight wickets

https://youtu.be/w6uVPCFv3HU

Andy Worth won the toss, and elected to bat, deciding to keep with the successful opening partnership of Stuart Tognarelli and Mike Haworth, with the returning Richard Kenway moving into the number five slot. This time there was to be no solid opening partnership as Tognarelli skied one and was caught at mid-off in the fourth over. Dave Banks failed to trouble the scorers, but Haworth (34) and Tom Foster (40) battled hard to take the score past seventy. Unfortunately once these two were dismissed, James Rose (4 for 36 ) destroyed the Sparsholt middle order, and wickets fell steadily with only Jamie Skeoch (16) and Nick Doubell (17 not out) reaching double figures Calmore skipper Mark Lavelle and Paul Proudley each took two wickets as Sparsholt were dismissed for a below par 145. When Calmore batted, runs were still difficult to come by, Mike Haworth taking an early wicket. Lavelle (50) and Ben Johns (47 not out) added 70, despite tidy bowling spells from Banks and Doubell, Banks having Lavelle caught from a rearing ball. This was to be Sparsholt’s last success as Johns, supported by Ben Moss (18 not out) steered the visitors to victory with more than ten overs left. Saturday sees Sparsholt go to Hambledon, hoping to repeat their earlier season victory.

T20 Cup – SPARSHOLT 110 for 7 beat FAIR OAK 107 all out by three wickets

https://youtu.be/zC7o9tSTBJ0

Fair Oak batted first and lost both openers with 19 on the board, both caught by Ed Jenner of Mike Haworth (2 for 13). Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, ever dependable Jon Sankey (3  for 25) putting in another solid performance despite having barely recovered from sunstroke contracted on the golf course a day earlier. Only Will Hughes (26) made a substantial contribution as Howarth , Dave Banks and Nick Doubell in particular bowled very tidily. An electric piece of fielding by Ed Jenner and a diving boundary catch by Howarth saw Fair Oak bowled out for a modest looking 107 with one ball of their twenty overs remaining. With 14 coming off the first Andy Mash over, it looked as though Sparsholt might win at a canter, but Mash took two wickets and only conceded a further 8 runs, while fellow opening bowler Gregor McKenzie took 1 for seven in his excellent four over spell. Halfway through the overs, things didn’t look so rosy for Sparsholt with the score standing at 38 for 3. Things got worse as skipper Dave Banks (18) was the victim of a run out mix up soon after but Jamie Skeoch set about repairing the damage taking the score to 82 with Ed Jenner. As tension mounted, Skeoch added a further 17 with Chris Mitchell, but with boundaries hard to find against a top class Fair Oak bowling and fielding side, seventeen required from the last two overs looked a big task. Skeoch (51 not out) suddenly struck gold with three boundaries in quick succession, and teenager Nick Doubell smashed the penultimate ball to the cover boundary giving Sparsholt a thrilling victory, and a place in the semi-final draw.

SUCCESS FOR SECONDS

SPARSHOLT II 156 for 3 beat HURSTBOURNE PRIORS 155 all out by three wickets

Sparsholt Second Team got back to winning ways on Saturday with a resounding 7 wickets victory at Hurstbourne Priors. All the Sparsholt bowlers did well in making scoring difficult after Tom Proctor removed the dangerous A. Nautiyal for 29. Haida Ali and Mungo Patterson bowled frugally with little reward but once the returning Dave Waters had opener J. Bayliss caught on the boundary for 59 the floodgates opened and the remaining batsman went cheaply for a final total of 155. Waters, now based in Kenya, but in Wichester visiting his parents on holiday,  finished with 5 for 36 and young Jesse Ribeiro retuned 3 for 26. 

In reply Waters (17) got the innings off to a quick start but it was left to fellow opener Ed Jenner to see Sparsholt home with a well crafted 80 not out, ably supported by Chris Mitchell (28) in a stand of 83 and Craig Charlesworth, who hit 20 not out.

Sparsholt's maximum 24 points consolidates their place in 9th position as they look forward to welcoming Old Alresford to the Norman Edwards Ground next week.