Petersfield 3s v Riverside
Petersfield 3s won by 29 runs
On the hottest day of the year (even the ants were flying) Petersfield won the toss and asked the visitors to field first much to the delight of the Petersfield players
The home side did not get off to the best of starts as Ben Anscombe (2) succumbed to the short leg fielder as he mistimed a pull straight to him. Rory Newman (13) and John Windebank (17) started to rebuild the innings with some good batting with Rory and John punishing the bad ball but keeping out the good balls until Rory got a jaffa from S Benge (10 overs - 1 wicket - 25 runs) which broke the bail on leg stump. John Windebank then played across the line to a straight delivery to be trapped LBW by D ford (7-1-42) to leave Petersfield on 43-3 in the 16th over.
Paddy May (87 not out) was joined at the crease by Oli Shapley (62) and the pair took to the task of getting maximum batting points to aid Petersfield in their relegation fight with great authority. At almost a run a ball the pair made the Riverside bowlers and fielders wilt in the hot temperatures and punished anything short and wide scoring 19 boundaries including 2 sixes from Shapley. When the partnership was finally broken in the 36th over they had put on 139 (possibly a 3s record) leaving Petersfield very handily placed on 182. The skipper (James Stratford-Tuke) decided against changing the batting order to get quick runs and proved he knew what he was doing as the onslaught continued with he and Paddy putting on 48 to take Petersfield to their best score since the previous season and leave Riverside to chase 230 from their 42 overs
After tea the cloud cover came over slightly and Petersfield confidently took to the field to defend the big total. Despite losing their first wicket in the second over as Oli Shapley (10-2-39) got a delivery to rise off a length. It took a superb catch from Paul Clarke at gully diving forward to his left,
Riverside set about their run chase with the same determination as Petersfield. Captain K Cowell (85) and J Kundy (69) punished any wayward bowling in similar fashion to Petersfields batsmen and looked to be taking the game away from Petersfield with a 134 run partnership before a change of bowling from skipper James proved to be the turning point of match as Dave Squires (8-4-41) first captured Kundy at midwicket thanks to a good catch from Ben Anscombe in his first over. Captain Cowell continued to punish anything short or legside until Squires got a ball to swing and bounce late and induced a thick outside edge which Rory Newman took diving backwards at point, the score was then 174-3 in the 32nd over.
Petersfield had got what they wanted and they sensed a win could be on the cards if they continued their excellent fielding and catching. Oli Shapley returned to the attack and removed A Kundy (0) with a beauty. Squires continued to cause false shots from the Riverside batsmen removing M Salby (7) and A Cleaver (4) both caught and bowled as wickets continued to fall.
Ben Cox removed L Deller (4) with a lovely slower ball and then had S Benge (7) caught behind by keeper Windebank. A superb piece of fielding from Ben Anscombe at mid wicket accounted for D Price (1) as he threw the ball right over the stumps to allow Squires to break the wickets with the Riversdie player a good 2 yards short of his ground. Ben Cox then clean bowled B Price (0) to wrap up the innings on 201.
A great game of cricket played in the right spirit with some great performances with the bat on both sides making it nip and tuck for most of the afternoon. Maximum points for Petersfield moves them closer to the teams above them as they look to avoid relegation.
Man of the match - Paddy May for his 87 not out as his new bat shows its worth when wielded with such skill.
Moment of the match - Rory Newmans diving catch to remove the Riverside skipper
Scorecard
http://petersfield.play-cricket.com/view_results_details?id=11908877
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