St Cross Symondians are on the cusp of clinching a place in the Southern Premier League Cup Grand Final – with their beefed up second team !
Hampshire pair Harry Came and Felix Organ lent a helping hand as St Cross II thrashed main East Premier/1 group challengers Alton by eight wickets at the Green Jackets.
It has put them within touching distance of a Grand Final place against either Bashley (Rydal), Bournemouth or South Wilts, who are scrapping for top place in the West division.
A win over Portsmouth at the St Helen’s ground on Southsea seafront on Saturday will secure Symondians’ cup final place.
Although their seam bowlers were the match winners on the pitch against Alton, St Cross owed an enormous debt of gratitude to their groundsman Steve Oliphant for getting the Green Jackets’ pitches playable in the first place.
Winchester city centre, little more than a mile away from the St Cross ground, had been hit by a storm of Biblical proportions the previous day. The cricket outfield had been similarly swamped.
But Oliphant got the game on – and the third eleven’s Winchester Championship match against Sparsholt II – probably much to the disappointment of Alton, who lost the toss, were put into bat and had half their team back in the pavilion with only 36 runs on the board.
Matt Haworth and Harry Foyle took two wickets each after Simon Beetham had nailed Alton skipper Dan Harris.
The Heffernan brothers, Michael (29) and Mark (28) stemmed the wicket flow to lift the Alton score to 83-5.
But spin pair Dave Orchard (2-13) and Felix Organ (2-12) eventually cut through the Brewers’ lower-order to leave Alton 109 all out.
Batting on a bowler friendly surface was far from easy and former Hampshire opener Jason Laney (21) had to call upon all his experience to survive.
But his patience and that of opening partner Steve Hirst was rewarded with a first-wicket stand of 49 which provided the platform for the St Cross victory.
Hirst (48) was two runs short of a richly deserved half-century when he was trapped leg before, but he had done his job – one which Came (20) and Organ completed in the 33rd over to give St Cross an eight-wicket win.
Hampshire pair Harry Came and Felix Organ lent a helping hand as St Cross II thrashed main East Premier/1 group challengers Alton by eight wickets at the Green Jackets.
It has put them within touching distance of a Grand Final place against either Bashley (Rydal), Bournemouth or South Wilts, who are scrapping for top place in the West division.
A win over Portsmouth at the St Helen’s ground on Southsea seafront on Saturday will secure Symondians’ cup final place.
Although their seam bowlers were the match winners on the pitch against Alton, St Cross owed an enormous debt of gratitude to their groundsman Steve Oliphant for getting the Green Jackets’ pitches playable in the first place.
Winchester city centre, little more than a mile away from the St Cross ground, had been hit by a storm of Biblical proportions the previous day. The cricket outfield had been similarly swamped.
But Oliphant got the game on – and the third eleven’s Winchester Championship match against Sparsholt II – probably much to the disappointment of Alton, who lost the toss, were put into bat and had half their team back in the pavilion with only 36 runs on the board.
Matt Haworth and Harry Foyle took two wickets each after Simon Beetham had nailed Alton skipper Dan Harris.
The Heffernan brothers, Michael (29) and Mark (28) stemmed the wicket flow to lift the Alton score to 83-5.
But spin pair Dave Orchard (2-13) and Felix Organ (2-12) eventually cut through the Brewers’ lower-order to leave Alton 109 all out.
Batting on a bowler friendly surface was far from easy and former Hampshire opener Jason Laney (21) had to call upon all his experience to survive.
But his patience and that of opening partner Steve Hirst was rewarded with a first-wicket stand of 49 which provided the platform for the St Cross victory.
Hirst (48) was two runs short of a richly deserved half-century when he was trapped leg before, but he had done his job – one which Came (20) and Organ completed in the 33rd over to give St Cross an eight-wicket win.