Brilliant team performance sees threes maintain a winning start

Bramshaw 3rd XI – Suttoners 2nd XI – HCL Division 6 SW, Match Report by Tom Mason

The thirds made it two wins in a row to start the season thanks to a brilliant win over Suttoners 2s at Nomansland.

After winning the toss and electing to field, the threes kept things very tight thanks to Alfie Laughland (1-32) and Ollie Hensel (1-30) as the home side made a slow start.

The runs continued to be at a minimum with Chris Hewlins (0-29) and Joe McNeilly (0-29) both bowling very well in the middle of the innings.

The visitors continued to bat cautiously as they reached drinks on 67-0.

After the break, a moment of real concern came when a ball was smashed to Andy Hodder at mid off. It cracked him straight on the head, with blood streaming everywhere. (Where is Ritesh when you need him?)

After a ten minute stoppage and Hodder receiving treatment, we were back underway.

A huge thanks to Suttoners for allowing us a fielder for the remaining 19.1 overs.

The breakthrough finally came a few overs later with the returning Adam Chatfield (2-17) pinning their opener in front to take a much needed wicket.

He then secured another a few overs later to halt the away side’s progress well.

They did speed up a little towards the end but it always felt about 40 under par for Nomansland.

After the break, Harry Burnham (24) and Joe McNeilly (58) opened up, getting the side off to a fantastic start and well placed on 51-0 after nine overs.

However, Burnham fell shortly after to bring Ben Lindsay (45*) to the crease and he shared a brilliant stand of 57 with McNeilly in just over 11 overs to break the back of the chase.

Once the opener was dismissed, Hewlins (18*) batted with calmness and shared 45 with Lindsay for the third wicket before he was removed going for glory.

Ryan Dibben (2) and George Fullerton (1) both fell in quick succession to bring a little bit of nerves but the skipper Tom Mason (4*) removed all of these, needing just one ball to hit the winning runs and take the side to a five-wicket victory.

A victory that was made sweeter given what had happened to Hodder earlier in the day, he confirmed that he had broken his nose. (A great excuse to avoid doing the fences)

Another superb win and we look forward to our most local game of the season next weekend with a trip to Godshill.

See the full scorecard here – https://bramshaw.play-cricket.com/website/results/6123606