HARBERTON V DENBURY - 2^nd May 2010

· Venue Stonehills, Harberton

· Toss won by Harberton

· Harberton 176 runs all out in 39.3 overs

· Denbury 163 runs all out in 38.2 overs

Cricket at Harberton this season cannot be described as boring. Despite the bitterly cold conditions, another exciting, incident filled match was played out at Stonehills between two committed and evenly matched teams.

Denbury won the toss and asked Harberton to bat on a damp wicket, hoping that batting would get easier later in the afternoon as the wicket dried out.

Jack and Christian Buckner opened the batting and played carefully as the Denbury bowlers made the ball swing and bounce erratically in the difficult conditions. Fraser was particularly accurate and difficult to get away – only 9 runs being scored off his 8 overs. The Harberton tactics paid off as the wicket got easier and the 2 Buckners put on 76 in 21 overs before young Christian was bowled for 35 by Matt Hickey.

Oakey was promoted up the order to speed up the run rate. His unorthodox batting upset the Denbury bowlers as he accumulated a rapid 35. Jack Buckner continued to bat steadily eventually falling one short of a well deserved half century, bowled by the lively Matt Hickey (2 for 16) With the score at 131 for 3 wickets with 9 overs remaining a large score looked on. However as with the previous week, Harberton suffered a dramatic collapse. The wily Malcolm Senior came on to bowl and ran through the Harberton batting taking 6 wickets for 39 runs including 3 in an over. Only Owers (17) and Elliot Buckner (19) managed to push the score on as Harberton were dismissed for a disappointing 176. Special mention to Simon Hickey whose 2 wickets in 8 overs cost a miserly 16 runs and wicket keeper Peck whose keen reflexes supported his bowlers with 3 stumpings.

After tea, the Denbury openers found batting difficult as accurate bowling from that ageing duo Shephard (2 for 13) and Goldsmith (1 for 22) reduced the visitors to 16 for 3 wickets after just 8 overs. This brought Holmes and Matthew Hickey to the wicket and they looked very comfortable as they tried to rebuild the Denbury innings.

It took an unusual dismissal to remove Holmes (18) He smashed a ball from Lagden straight back down the wicket. A valiant effort by the bowler deflected a certain 4 into the hands of captain Buckner who held the difficult catch. This brought together the father/son Hickey combination. Matthew Hickey was particularly aggressive and pushed the score on rapidly, skying several shots just out of the reach of frustrated fielders. Having posted his 50 and Denbury’s 100 in the 23^rd over, he finally drove straight to Elliot Buckner off the bowling of brother Christian – 106 for 5. The game was finely balanced; time for Pike to enter the fray. He slowed the scoring rate down and picked up 3 key wickets for just 21 runs with his canny variation of flight and spin. This included the wickets of the dangerous Simon Hickey (20) a stunning diving caught and bowled to remove Vanderwaal (1) and Caton for (24) While Caton and Peck (21) were at the wicket

Denbury looked good for a win but with Harberton chasing and throwing themselves around the field to stop the flow of runs the pressure told and Denbury were dismissed 13 runs short of their target.

Another excellent sporting game to warm up a very cold day.