Recap
Scorecard – Hampshire Hogs v Milton Abbey Hornets – 19.07.20
On a drizzly morning Milton Abbey Hornets won the toss and elected to bowl, in hope that the overheard conditions would aid their bowling attack on a green, but hard wicket. The Hornets were on the front foot from the first ball of the match as George Amphlett castled Ollie Kelly with a pacy inswinger. Not the start the Hogs were hoping for.
Matt Love, playing some fluid back foot shots to the fired up Amphlett, partnered the opener Kumo Sharma to pull the Hogs back up to a respectable 46 for 1 before he was bowled by Amphlett by another cracker through the gate. Archie Knight was pinned LBW first ball, followed quickly by Henry Marks with a dubious LBW decision for a duck off George Taylor’s bowling.
With the Hornets in the ascendancy, Will Jay was thrust in to steady the ship before lunch, however he too, fell to the devastating bowling of Amphlett.
At 67 for 5, Captain Will Marks entered the field of play looking to salvage something and put on a respectable total. Building a partnership with Sharma runs started to flow with Marks hitting four boundaries in a row in one over as the Hogs accelerated past 150. Shortly after bringing up his half century Marks fell for 58 by a sharp catch at square leg. It was now down to Sharma and the tail to haul the Hogs towards 200, however Amphlett had other ideas claiming the last 4 wickets, including Sharma who hit a crucial 77 runs, to leave the Hornets needing 192 to win.
Defending a small total, the Hogs had to start well, however the opening bowlers of Will Marks and Khaj Sharma couldn’t break the batsmen down despite few runs off the bat.
The breakthrough came with youngster Gabe Ashton claiming an LBW in his second over just as the Hornets began to motor. Hornets opener Sam Rhys batted with freedom putting on 53 runs before falling to the spin bowling of Kumo Sharma and with pace off the ball doing the trick as Henry Marks stumped Charrington off the leg breaks of Ollie Kelly.
The middle order of the Hornets grinded towards the winning total however a flurry of late wickets by Will Jay and Seb Norris left the Hornets 8 wickets down with a handful of runs to win and the Hogs with a slim chance at victory. With almost every man around the bat, the Hornets chipped away at the last few runs before a daring cut shot by veteran Moyle raced to the boundary to bring up a well fought victory for the Hornets in the late evening sun.
