Zac Le Roux goes big [Bob Selley]
Tailender Ian Berrill capped a memorable father and son family day by hitting the last ball of the match to the mid-wicket boundary to enable Sparsholt to tie their match with Southern Premier Division 1 leaders Rowledge.
Two hours or so earlier, his teenage son Will celebrated his maiden league half-century to provide Sparsholt a platform from which to draw level with Rowledge at 232 runs each.
The result saw Rowledge’s lead at the top cut to a mere three points from Calmore Sports (who beat Ventnor by three wickets) and gave hope to Sparsholt that they might be able to cut the deficit at the bottom in the coming nine weeks.
The match at School Road ebbed and flowed, so it was perhaps unsurprising it featured a dramatic last ball finish.
Rowledge, whose top order batting hasn’t been the best of late, immediately faced a tough challenge, with Sparsholt mixing up their young and more experience bowlers intelligently and not letting the leaders have their way in the early exchanges.
Ricky Yates (26) looked to punish any width on offer, but against some accurate bowling, none of the top four was able to assert themselves and eventually Rowledge fell to 56-4 in the 18th over.
Facing a tough challenge to dig Rowledge out of this situation, teen duo Zac Le Roux and Olly Ryman came together and showed great maturity. They weathered the storm well, rotating the strike and running between the wickets excellently to wrestle back the momentum for Rowledge.
The pair played risk-free cricket but built their partnership at a decent rate. They were ruthless on any loose bowling, but consistently took singles in the ring through some intelligent batting, and sought to run the Sparsholt fielders ragged.
Two hours or so earlier, his teenage son Will celebrated his maiden league half-century to provide Sparsholt a platform from which to draw level with Rowledge at 232 runs each.
The result saw Rowledge’s lead at the top cut to a mere three points from Calmore Sports (who beat Ventnor by three wickets) and gave hope to Sparsholt that they might be able to cut the deficit at the bottom in the coming nine weeks.
The match at School Road ebbed and flowed, so it was perhaps unsurprising it featured a dramatic last ball finish.
Rowledge, whose top order batting hasn’t been the best of late, immediately faced a tough challenge, with Sparsholt mixing up their young and more experience bowlers intelligently and not letting the leaders have their way in the early exchanges.
Ricky Yates (26) looked to punish any width on offer, but against some accurate bowling, none of the top four was able to assert themselves and eventually Rowledge fell to 56-4 in the 18th over.
Facing a tough challenge to dig Rowledge out of this situation, teen duo Zac Le Roux and Olly Ryman came together and showed great maturity. They weathered the storm well, rotating the strike and running between the wickets excellently to wrestle back the momentum for Rowledge.
The pair played risk-free cricket but built their partnership at a decent rate. They were ruthless on any loose bowling, but consistently took singles in the ring through some intelligent batting, and sought to run the Sparsholt fielders ragged.
The pair batted through the bulk of the innings and, looking to accelerate towards the back end, Le Roux would fall in unfortunate fashion, miscuing a full toss from Williams and holing out in the deep. However, he had made an exceptional 75 and his partnership with Ryman (71*) totalled just shy of 150 and was very impressive, demonstrating great intelligence and skill.
Ryan Littlewood joined Ryman for the death overs, and he contributed a quick-fire 27 to propel Rowledge up to 232-5, a total that they would have certainly deemed to be defendable.
Rowledge bowled with great accuracy in the early stages of the reply, with Richard Forbes and left-arm spinner Ollie Baker restricting the run rate with the new ball, well supported by an energetic fielding unit.
When Ricky Yates removed Ollie Williams in the 18th over, Sparsholt fell to 45-2 and Rowledge looked to have a commanding hold on the game.
However, the experienced David Banks joined young opener Will Berill and steadily the momentum started to shift. The pair were patient at first, but they quietened the Rowledge fielders by rotating the strike well and nullifying the threat the hosts had initially posed.
Ryan Littlewood joined Ryman for the death overs, and he contributed a quick-fire 27 to propel Rowledge up to 232-5, a total that they would have certainly deemed to be defendable.
Rowledge bowled with great accuracy in the early stages of the reply, with Richard Forbes and left-arm spinner Ollie Baker restricting the run rate with the new ball, well supported by an energetic fielding unit.
When Ricky Yates removed Ollie Williams in the 18th over, Sparsholt fell to 45-2 and Rowledge looked to have a commanding hold on the game.
However, the experienced David Banks joined young opener Will Berill and steadily the momentum started to shift. The pair were patient at first, but they quietened the Rowledge fielders by rotating the strike well and nullifying the threat the hosts had initially posed.
Will Berrill maiden SPL 50 [Bob Selley]
Back after a four-week sabbatical, Banks was the dangerman for Sparsholt and he began to show why by unleashing a series of powerful sweep shots that peppered the mid-wicket boundary. The game looked to be falling away from Rowledge as Banks (61) and Berrill (59) were cruising comfortably through the middle overs, and they needed some brilliance to bring them back into the game.
They seemed to get just that when Banks fell for 61 to a smart catch by Ricky Yates, and then Littlewood ran out Coyle with an exceptional piece of fielding at backward point [161-4].
However, Berrill, who had continued to accumulate runs steadily without taking any risks, found an able partner in captain Jeremy Frith, who innovated well and frustrated Rowledge with his conventional and reverse paddle sweeps.
He scored quickly, but when he was removed by Ash-Lee Harvey, it triggered a flurry of two more wickets in quick succession. As has happened many times this season, it looked as if Rowledge had shown great character to come back from a desperate position.
Eventually, 12 runs were needed off Harvey’s final over with Sparsholt eight wickets down and, after Lewis Dunford was run out from the first ball, the game looked to have swung the way of Rowledge.
However, Josh Williams struck a crucial boundary and then, with 4 runs needed off the last ball to tie the game, Sparsholt last man Ian Berrill heaved the delivery from Harvey through the leg side. It beat mid-wicket and eventually trickled over the boundary. An extraordinary game had ended in unlikely fashion, with a tie. Rowledge 232-5 Sparsholt 232-9. Match tied. Wonderful stuff.
They seemed to get just that when Banks fell for 61 to a smart catch by Ricky Yates, and then Littlewood ran out Coyle with an exceptional piece of fielding at backward point [161-4].
However, Berrill, who had continued to accumulate runs steadily without taking any risks, found an able partner in captain Jeremy Frith, who innovated well and frustrated Rowledge with his conventional and reverse paddle sweeps.
He scored quickly, but when he was removed by Ash-Lee Harvey, it triggered a flurry of two more wickets in quick succession. As has happened many times this season, it looked as if Rowledge had shown great character to come back from a desperate position.
Eventually, 12 runs were needed off Harvey’s final over with Sparsholt eight wickets down and, after Lewis Dunford was run out from the first ball, the game looked to have swung the way of Rowledge.
However, Josh Williams struck a crucial boundary and then, with 4 runs needed off the last ball to tie the game, Sparsholt last man Ian Berrill heaved the delivery from Harvey through the leg side. It beat mid-wicket and eventually trickled over the boundary. An extraordinary game had ended in unlikely fashion, with a tie. Rowledge 232-5 Sparsholt 232-9. Match tied. Wonderful stuff.
Dave Banks goes for a big hit off David Lloyd - but there's a Rowledge fielder underneath it
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Oops ! Superb photography by Bob Selley.
