Holmbury St Mary CC v Hambledon

Report by Andrew Jenner

Hambledon 251 all out from 42 overs. Holmbury 252 for 3 from 40 overs

One of the good things about moving up from division 2 to division 1 is the opportunity to play at some different grounds. Hambledon certainly fits that category, a beautiful setting with a tiny ground. The size of the ground certainly made it hard to defend boundaries, there were 19 sixes in our innings alone.

Hambledon won the toss and decided to bat first. Their innings was dominated by their number 4 who scored 158, teeing off from his first ball. Only 3 other Hambledon players got into double figures. The pick of our bowlers were Ross (3 for 44 off 10 overs), Monu (4 for 40 off 10 overs) and Martin (1 for 63 off 10 overs). All bowled exceptionally well in the face of such a dominant batsman. Whilst we didn't help ourselves dropping their no 4 three times we did take plenty of good catches, particular note goes to Mike with 3 excellent catches and an all round very tidy display behind the stumps. Tony and Phil each picked up a wicket ensuring we got maximum bowling points.

We needed a good start to build our reply on, JR (60) continuing his fine start to the season and Nick (25) gave us that with a strong 71 opening partnership. After three relatively quick wickets Monu (78 no) joined me (61 no) with the score on 108 in the 23rd over. Our partnership of 144 off 17 overs took us to our target with 3 overs to spare. Monu was at his destructive best with 66 of his 78 being scored in boundaries. Key to the approach of the run chase was knowing how much batting we had in the pavilion if we needed it. That depth will hopefully serve well in the upcoming weeks.

That is now 2 wins from our first 2 games in division 1 and maximum points. A good start that should give us the confidence of approaching the rest of the season. Next Sunday (12th) we are at home to Ashtead who had a convincing victory against Abinger yesterday, so I am sure will provide us with another good test.