St Mary Bourne, Sunday 9th August 2020

30 Over Match: St Mary Bourne beat Inkpen by 10 wickets (Inkpen 109/6 in 30 overs, St Mary Bourne 112/0 in 16.1 overs)

Team: Ian Dixon (Capt), Wayne Knape, Patrick Lowe, John Donohoe, Tim Marston, Jeff Hutchinson, David Glitz, Archie Darke, Bertie Darke, Josh Donohoe, Milo Darke

Match report by Ian Dixon…

We were all set for another gorgeous sunny Sunday afternoon friendly cricket match and Inkpen, under new captaincy for the day, began in superb style with several team members arriving early to prepare the wicket. Pitch painted, boundary rope perfectly oval and gazebos galore, everyone was chipping in.

Some immaculate tossing skills were displayed by the new skipper and for the first time in ages Inkpen won something. Inkpen chose to bat to try to accumulate an almighty target with some destructive batting.

The always reliable Patrick and Wayne were sent in to open, and disappoint they did not, Patrick firing on all cylinders with a couple of boundaries off the first over. The pair smashed their way to… about 15 before the first wicket fell around the eighth or ninth over.

Needless to say, the batting line up performed superbly and batted out the 30 overs reaching a monumental 109, with cameo performances throughout and an exceptional 33 from Patrick Lowe. Perfect planning from the captain (in at 11) and execution from the batsman meant there was no danger of adding to his tally of ducks for the season! This may seem like a low score but on an uneven surface against county standard bowlers and some exceptional fielding, this was no mean feat.

St Mary Bourne, having milked both Saturday and Sunday teams to face this potential banana skin fixture, were not taking any chances, and although we were slightly below the 350 target we felt we could achieve, hopes were high as everyone knew a couple of quick wickets and the game would be on!!!

With a strong bowling outfit ready for action Inkpen took to the field. The senior Darke sons (Archie and Bertie) opened the bowling with some fine pacey bowling, however we were all too soon aware that the opening batsmen were no slouches. Keeping the bowlers to three over spells meant even the senior bowlers survived the heat but unfortunately not the onslaught from the number opener. Not even the infamous Inkpen track helped us, and a couple of half chances were spilled, with Mr Lowe unlucky not to see the ball coming straight to him through the sunshine. Oh, what might have been.

Anyway with the captain out of ideas and everyone thinking of a nice cold beer, St Mary Bourne achieved the target with possibly the finest batting display you are likely to see (excluding for last week’s century by Peasemore) in 16 overs.

On a positive note, we batted out 30 overs with wickets to spare, the bowling was good and everyone I’m sure had a lovely time and appreciated an early finish. Thanks to the team for making captaincy a pleasure.

Onwards and upwards next week (hopefully).