Bashley travelled to top of the table Emsworth and the afternoon started badly when wicket keeper Chris Gates sprained his ankle in the pre match warm up. Bashley then lost the toss and found themselves in the field on a very hot sunny afternoon. Emsworth got off to a good start through openers Mehta (30) and Pitts (26) despite good opening spells from James Turner and Dan Hart.. Michael O’Sullivan had Pitts dropped off his second ball but bowled an excellent spell (2 for 18) to keep Emsworth in check. He was well supported at the other end by skipper Sam Scott (2 for 20) to get Bashley back on top and reduce Emsworth to 90 for 4 after 28 overs. When young Sam Presland, (3 for 43) had the dangerous Swaine stumped for 37 Bashley were going well. However some late order hitting from Norris (28) and Gray (27) took Emsworth to a challenging 181 for 8 after their 45 overs.
After tea, Bashley openers Luke Stubbington and Tom O’Sullivan got Bashley off to a good start and up with the required run rate. However the loss of 3 quick wickets as Stubbington was bowled for 10, O’Sullivan caught for 12 and Harvard LBW soon afterwards left Bashley in trouble at 36 for 3. James Turner (37) and Ryan Taylor (33) then steadied the ship with an excellent 70 run partnership in 20 overs to gradually rebuild the innings and bring Bashley back in the game. When they were both dismissed either side of the last drinks break, Bashley then lost 2 more quick wickets to swing the game back firmly to Emsworth. Michael O’Sullivan and the limping Chris Gates rallied Bashley again with a rapid 35 run partnership to leave 24 runs required of the last 4 overs. However, when Gates was bowled for 12 and O’Sullivan caught and bowled for 30 it left too much for young Toby Mills (4 not out) and Sam Presland (4). Bashley were eventually all out of the last ball to leave Emsworth the winners of a close and fluctuating match by just 9 runs.
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