Oakley 1s v Petersfield 2s

Petersfield 2s arrived at Oakley’s ground expecting it to be under water after what can only be described as a biblical downpour 10 minutes earlier as they travelled up the M3 only to find the ground was very dry and the only sign there had been rain were the covers still on the pitch. Once these were removed the pitch was bone dry on the surface. Having lost the toss Petersfield were asked to bat first and with a very inviting boundary on one of the sides it looked like a big score was needed to put Oakley under pressure. As it turned out nothing could be further from the truth with openers Richard Stephens (8) and John McGuire (53) finding it very hard to time the ball (something a lot of the batsmen had difficulty with in both innings). Some tight bowling from Oakley opening bowlers Tom Holbrook (0 for 18 off 7) and Captain Clive Wellsman (2 for 16 off 10) restricted Petersfield to 48-2 off 16 overs. Petersfield Captain Frank Straw (17) joined John McGuire to push the score to 82 before Petersfield lost 4 wickets for 8 runs off 5 overs. John McGuire was still there and just looked like he needed someone to stay with him to take Petersfield to a competitive score and for 6 overs he seemed to have found a partner in Dave Squires (8) who showed a stout defence to keep the Australian batsman company before McGuire was adjudged LBW by the umpire with the score on 109. With McGuire out Squires misjudged a delivery and lost his leg stump, Mark Holloway did the same before Simon Dodd gave the only catch of the innings to leave J Green with impressive figures of 2 overs, 3 wickets for 4 runs. 111 did not look defendable as the players went in for tea. With the wind continuing to blow at gale force straight down the pitch Captain Frank Straw (0-19 off 10) and Vice Captain Nigel Straw (3 for 22 off 10) opened the bowling taking a couple of early wickets to leave Oakley 6 for 2 off 9. Debutant Paul Clarke at one point seemed to be the only player playing as ball after ball went to him at mid-on including 1 catch which he snaffled comfortably unfortunately this was the only catch Petersfield took all day. The bowling continued to be very tight as Richard Stephens (1 for 17 off 10) and Mark Holloway (1 for 19 off 5) kept the pressure on Oakley and at drinks (21 overs) they were 51 for 3 and struggling to time the ball. Sam Holbrook (20) showed that power can sometimes work in your favour as he and opener Scott Bright (52) took the score along to 94-4 off 34 overs. Things were still very tight as the overs started to run out, but a quick fire 23 from Michael Wood saw the home side home with just 2.1 overs remaining. This was a very close game which went the distance and both sides at certain points could have won it. Some very good bowling from Petersfield almost snatched the win but Oakley prevailed to get their season off to a positive start. Petersfield can take a lot of heart from their bowling performance and if some of the catches had been held it could have been an even tighter affair Moment of the match - Simon Dodd being asked to bowl into the wind and struggling to see the crease due to some strange yellow thing in the sky shining in his eyes ! Man of the Match is a toss up between John McGuire's 50 or Nigel Straw’s 3 for 22