Harberton v Battersea Bohemians played on 10^th July 2010

· Played at Harberton – Timed game

· Toss won by Battersea Bohemians

· Harberton 200 for 8 wickets in 37.3 overs

· Battersea Bohemians 100 for 7 wickets in 37 overs

· Match drawn

Battersea Bohemians were one of the first touring teams to play against Harberton over 20 years ago. The home side decided to put out a veteran team made up of members past and present who had played against them over the years.

Winning the toss, Bohemians put Harberton in hoping to take advantage of the hard new ball on the firm bouncy wicket. Early on the decision seemed correct as Harberton slumped to 48 for 4 wickets as the pace of Kelly (4 for 34) and the spin of Cook (1 for 30) ripped through the top order. Scott (12) and Bailey (14) started well before succumbing to Kelly while Dick Todd showed great sportsmanship by walking after gloving a lifter from the same bowler to the keeper Thwaites. No one appealed for the catch and the umpires both felt the ball had come off the arm and were surprised when Todd set off to the pavilion. It took an excellent stand by the dogged Alexander and the graceful Pike to repair the damage as the pair batted sensibly running quick singles and striking the occasional bad ball to the boundary. They put on a stand of 87 for the fifth wicket before a tired Pike was stumped off the bowling of Kelly for an excellent 57.

With 11 overs remaining Tregelles came to the wicket in his most belligerent mood. A keen golfer many of his shots that followed looked more at home on the golf course as he pounded five fours and two massive sixes in a rapid innings of 40 which saw Harberton to a very respectable 200. Alexander (33) and Clayton (9 not out) supported him well from the other end.

Any hope of the Bohemians snatching a win quickly disappeared as the Harberton attack set about their task bowling superb line and length to frustrate the visiting batsmen. The scoreboard moved along very slowly and wickets fell regularly as Goldsmith (2 for 22) and Pike (4 for 21) removed the top order. Only Hayley (28) and Meier (22) managed to score many runs. The ageing Todd showed that his reflexes were still top notch when he took two remarkable catches including one at mid off smashed down the wicket by Meier that he had no right to get near.

Valuable overs were used up by the later batsmen as they fought hard to use up the time to force a draw. Bohemians skipper Archdale in particular led the way scoring just 6 runs off 42 balls. He was well supported by Cook (5 not out) and Yarnell (7) whose dogged resistance saw the Bohemians home despite the efforts of captain Todd who tried every combination of bowling change and field placements to obtain those final wickets in the last tense hour. With 2 wickets remaining and 100 runs behind Bohemians were delighted to avoid defeat in the face of such pressure.