Unicorns crash out of National Village Cup

PEPPARD STOKE ROW slipped to a 48-run home defeat to HARPSDEN in their latest pre-season friendly on Saturday.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat, the visitors suffered an early setback before captain Adam Birkett (50), Christian Whittaker (42) and Swiss international Steffan Franklin (40 not out from 19 balls) fired them to a competitive 185-7 from their 40 overs.

Peppard skipper Scott Harris (2-41) and Owen Simmons (2-54) were the pick of the attack, while Matt Kimber, Sam Fooks and Kirk Graham all grabbed a wicket apiece.

The hosts’ reply never really got going in the face of fine opening spells from James Aston and Matt Stanley, but the wheels well and truly came off as Tom Dawson (2-13) and Hamza Abbasi (4-7) then ripped through the middle-order to see Peppard crash from 31-1 to 54-7.

Harris and Simmons then showed their ability with the bat, sharing an eighth-wicket stand of 80, but the introduction of Whittaker hastened the end of the game as his double-wicket maiden helped end the home side’s innings for 137.

An astonishing late assault from WHITE WALTHAM saw them eliminate PEPPARD STOKE ROW UNICORNS from the National Village Cup with a last-ball seven-wicket away success.

Peppard youngsters Daniel Watts and Kyle Tappan both looked in good touch after the hosts had been asked to bat, but both fell in the 20s as their side crashed to 78-5 after 20 overs.

However, Scott Harris (51 from 48 balls) and Rich Ashton (76 from 57 including seven boundaries and four maximums) initially steadied the ship before upping the run rate.

Both departed towards the end of the innings, but some useful late-order cameos helped Peppard post a competitive 227-8 from their 40 overs.

Waltham started strongly with Dan Molloy and Nikhil Jeyaratnam sharing 60 for the opening wicket, only for impressive U16 Tom Mennie to make the breakthrough when the latter chopped on.

Another Peppard youngster, Ben Rumble, also caught the eye with 1-18 from his six overs, and with Matt Syddall bowling tidily, the home side seemed on top with their opponents 119-3 with 10 overs remaining.

However, on what was an exceptional April wicket at Peppard Common, the visitors launched a stunning charge on the back of Molloy’s (74 not out) well-crafted knock and a blitzkrieg 94 not out from just 61 deliveries from skipper Ben Scarborough, the latter hitting the final ball of the match to the boundary to seal a dramatic victory. A youthful PEPPARD STOKE ROW MAHARAJAHS side put up a brave showing as they slipped to a 30-run home defeat to a strong FARLEY HILL outfit on Sunday.

Aled Roberts was the pick of the Mahas’ attack as he claimed 2-43 in Farley Hill’s total of 214-4 in 35 overs at the Les Clark Oval, and despite a number of useful cameos in reply — most notably Alex Leedham’s unbeaten 38 — the hosts were only able to reach 184-8.