Sarisbury At Lord's
By Ray Hammond
Quarter Finals, Sarisbury Athletic v Havant, 9th April 2006
There was a good crowd watching from the club plus, of course, players from the other quarter finalists, sizing up the opposition. Mostly though, I remember how tense the atmosphere was! The Sarisbury boys were seriously "up for it" though maybe the Havant side were just a little too relaxed. They must have been confident with almost all their stars including the legendary Richard Hindley in the side. Havant elected to bat first and from the start were surprised by the intensity of the Sarisbury fielding. Pete's first, very accurate over to Stu Ransley, yielded just 3 runs as the fielders pounced on everything. Hindley was the other opening batsman but he couldn't get going either. After 4 overs Havant had scored just 33 and Pete had caught and bowled Ransley. Soon Hindley was gone as well, brilliantly caught by Clarky off Keith. Havant tried desperately to increase the scoring rate but after 8 overs they only had 63 with 3 wickets down. I remember it was quiet around this time, the Havant supporters were quite stunned by the turn of events (as were the neutrals) and the normally very loud Sarisbury "Army" were actually starting to realise that, even this early, the boys might win this game and we were dreading something going wrong! Bondy, the suspected "weak link" bowled an excellent line and length and conceded less than 10 an over while the Hammond brothers, between them, took 3 wickets for just 31 runs in their 6 overs! Havant never got going and ended their innings 5 down for just 101. Even against a humble County One side, it definitely wasn't enough.
In the second innings, Bondy and Steve Clark opened and proceeded to give a master class in indoor batting. They ran like hares and picked off Jimmy Ingram's pace with easy 3s, while the other opening bowler, Chris Morgan, bowled poorly and was taken off. Sarisbury scored at 10 per over and the supporters were now getting quite loud and excited. It was looking easy, though some may have spotted that Havant's best bowler, Hindley, had still to bowl. Both opening batsman retired and Dom Ducellier kept up the scoring rate well and Sarisbury were 64 for 0 off 6 overs. Then Richard Hindley came on and things began to change. Pete had now come in and he was determined to dominate the spinners. However, it wasn't that simple as they were now bowling very well. Pete spent most of one over trying to smash Hindley to the back wall and failing! BAT's captain Dave Banks was stood next to me at the time and he smilingly remarked "What's up doesn't he like spin?" Next over, Pete was caught off the returning Morgan for 5 and then Hindley got Dom stumped for a gutsy 20. The scoring rate was now very slow but the target was desperately close. Just 5 needed off the last over. It was very quiet now! Clearly Keith and Simon had to go for everything with 2 batsmen waiting to return. Keith got a 3 off the first ball and was run out next delivery but the one run scored brought the scores level so that Clarky, returning to the crease had no hesitation in stepping down the crease and smashing a straight six! Sarisbury had beaten former National Indoor Champions Havant. The supporters went mad!
While Sarisbury celebrated the remaining quarter finals were played out and before we left for home everyone was aware that the semi-final opponents were Winchester!!
