Winning Weekend for Sparsholt

Trojans 167 all out Sparsholt 169-3

Sparsholt got their first win of the league season with a performance that will please the Sparsholt faithful, however the game was something of a turgid affair. Pleasingly for Sparsholt they never let go of the advantage they established in the 13th over when David Banks picked up his first wicket with the dismissal of James Truscott for 29 and the score on 52. Up until that point runs had flowed freely with 7 of the 13 boundaries Trojans managed coming in the first 11 overs. 

From the 13th over onwards Sparsholt strangled the life out of the Trojan's innings, denying boundaries and constantly building pressure. Trojans' batsman fought hard but were never able to create any momentum with Sparsholt's tight stump to stump line rewarded with 7 wickets either bowled or LBW. Mario Mohammed and Syed Mahmood occupied the crease picking up runs when they rarely became available but with only 6 boundaries in 37 overs and some tight fielding in the ring Sparsholt tightened their grip. Wickets fell steadily as they were shared around with Doubell and Banks picking up three a piece, two for Jeremy Frith and one a piece for Mike Haworth and Nayan Phagami. Doubell in particular showing real signs of improvement. Trojan's eventually dismissed for 167 in 48th over.

In reply Sparsholt never had to push for runs as the odd streaky edge or lose delivery found the boundary and kept the scoreboard moving along. Trojan's maintained a ring field to the miserly Donaldson who conceded on 19 runs in his 10 overs. Whilst runrate was never an issue the Sparsholt batsman fought hard to preserve their advantage, led by Jeremy Frith (75no), against a bowling unit well suited to the surface. Frith was well supported by important contributions from Banks (30) and Sam Kennett (22no) who hit the winning runs in the 48th over with a straight six that provided a glimmer of entertainment for those watching. 

Sparsholt Captain Jeremy Frith stated "I was really pleased with how disciplined we were with the ball, and how well that was supported by the fielding unit. Sometimes the uglier wins are the more pleasing. I can't fault the overall performance, once we were on top we never let go or gave them an opportunity to put us under any undue pressure. Its can be so easy to let teams back in to the game in low scoring affairs if you lose concentration or get careless. It wasn't a pretty game but it was a fantastic all-round performance, particularly mentally. Trojans will win plenty of games this year, particularly at home, and whilst we won by 7 wickets it was never easy and we had to be on our mettle throughout." 

Sparsholt II vs  Rowledge III  Sparsholt won by 5 wickets. 

Sparsholt 2nds hosted Rowledge at Locks lane and after winning the toss  stand in captain Greg Whiting opted to bowl. Tom Proctor (1 for 35 )opened the bowling with 2 maidens as Will Putt  (1 for 17) claimed a wicket caught behind I his 2nd over. A partnership of 126 followed as Nicholls and Garnham started with caution before attacking the bowling. Once Garnham reached his fifty he played more freely before being bowled by Proctor for 87 in the 34th over. Silver added 27 and and Norris 22 as Stone claimed 4 for 50 with a stumping from Whiting and catches from Ali and Worth in the outfield the latter taking a one handed catch on the boundary rope to prevent a six. The Rowledge innings closed for 209 for 6 from their 45 overs. 

The Sparsholt innings quickly faltered with Pryce and Stegall back in the pavilion with 17 on the board. Herridge and Worth took the score to 48 before Worth  fell for 13 in the 17th over. Herridge and Ryan hit boundaries and accumulated singles keeping the score moving before Herridge  fell for a fine 43. With the Sparsholt needing 125 in 20 overs the game looked set for a close finish. Tom Proctor following up on his 33 not out last week pushed ones and hit the bad ball as he worked to close down the total. Ryan fell for an astute 19 bringing stand in captain Greg Whiting to the middle as Sparsholt required 88 from 13 overs. Proctor punished the bad ball with 3 sixes and 4 fours in an outstanding innings pushing singles with Whiting to rotate the strike. Not to be outdone Whiting followed suit with a coupe of sixes and fours to knock off the Rowledge total with 4 overs to spare, Proctor unbeaten on 66 and Whiting on 41 to leave Sparsholt 2nds unbeaten in their first two games.