Carnage as Joban and Lally tear through Holyport

WITH HURLEY already assured of the runner-up spot to Fulmer in Division 1, there was an end of term feeling in the final week of the season as they travelled to DENHAM for what would eventually be a five-wicket defeat.

Hurley won the toss and opted to bat first, opening with Sajeed Ajmal and Fiyyaz Mahmood. The batsmen found life difficult with the Denham pairing of Akshay Apte and Jagjit Singh extracting pace and bounce from the pitch.

It was the tall right-handed seamer Apte who got the initial breakthrough having Ajmal (7) caught at slip by Prince Singh. Gandhi joined Mahmood in a partnership of 61 for the second wicket and Hurley looked to be on their way to a good score.

Mahmood (38), Gandhi (45) and Harron Malik (31) all made significant contributions but when Malik fell, caught behind to Taimoor Sadiq, this precipitated a collapse. Jagdeep fell by the same method off the next delivery and although skipper Yasir Gul survived the hat-trick ball, the rest of the Hurley line-up could only manage another 22 runs as they subsided to 144 all out with Sadiq (5-48) being the chief destroyer.

In reply, Umar Zamman got an early breakthrough, bowling Osama Mahmood in the first over. Ikki Shokat looked to get on with it, smashing 43 from 40 deliveries before the change to Phil Ridgeway saw him caught at mid-on by Zamman from Ridgeway’s second delivery.

Ansuman Swain held the innings together with a patient 52, ended when Jagdeep claimed his wicket. Although they lost three more wickets, Denham were never really in any trouble, easing home with 13 overs to spare.

Elsewhere in Division 1 HARPSDEN 2NDS went down to a 46-run defeat to Ruislip Victoria after winning the toss and electing to field. Their opponents piled on 212-9 in 45 overs in the face of determined bowling by Seamus Levin (36-3) and Tom Hancock (55-3). In reply Harpsden finished on a dogged 166-9 in 45 overs, with captain Will Stevens the side’s top scorer with 51 not out.

Division 2 champions HURLEY 2NDS brought their triumphant season to a close with a home fixture wine against near-neighbours HOLYPORT. There had already been indications prior to the match the away team were perhaps not the same force that had led the division for the first half of the season.

Holyport called correctly and invited Hurley to bat on what was the ideal end-of-season day. The tone of the innings was set by the Holyport bowlers who conceded six no-balls in the first two overs. Opening batters Clive Williams and Mandeep Singh serenely compiled an opening stand of 145 over 25 overs. Mandeep completed a half-century in the 21st and was bowled out by Victor Joubert not far short of his ton while going more for his shots.

Williams fell two overs later to a catch off the same bowler. Josh Cole, and Ravi and Joban Singh all scored more than 20 runs over the last 20 overs to lift Hurley past the 200 mark. Captain Ian Caskie and veteran Tristan Head bowled admirably in the circumstances, but Hurley were ably assisted by their 12th man Mr Extras, who kept the umpire and scorers on their toes and compiled a half-century of his own, which mainly consisted of no-balls and byes.

In reply Hurley opened the Holyport innings once again with Joban opening from the Farm end in conjunction with Kuljit Lally. Opening batters Peter Price and Archie Gadeke had raised the score to 11 in the fifth over, but there was no hint of the carnage to come as Joban and Lally tore through the Holyport top order.

The top five batters scored 13 between them and the visitors were reduced to 18-6 in the space of six further overs. Mark Denholm and Head mounted a brief counterattack which raised the score to 34, and it was at this score after 14 overs and for the loss of seven wickets that Joban opted to bring on Liam Cole and Osama Munir, who wrapped up the Holyport innings swiftly.

Catches were taken by Joban (twice), Akash Singh (in the field), Munir and the Cole brothers. Hurley’s collective bowling figures were 17-7-34-10. Mandeep, Ravi and Parvinder Hunjan were not required to bowl. This match was as one-sided as the first eleven match on this ground on the previous Saturday.

Although there is still one match to be played in Division 2 this will have no impact on the winners, runners-up or relegation issues. Promotions and relegations will be confirmed by the executive once all factors have been taken into consideration.