Strong all round performance too much for Leatherhead

Horsley: 135 for 5 (20 overs)
Leatherhead: 91 for 8 (20 overs)

Horsley won by 44 runs

Put into bat the opening combination of Stewart (M) and Hafiz showed intent from the start. Stewart carried on from where he left off at Ashtead finding the boundary with only his third ball. Hafiz rode his luck early on before launching into some classy looking pulls and drives. The score raced to 33 off only four overs as these two dispatched anything remotely off line. It was therefore somewhat off a shock when Stewart misjudged the pace and was caught; much to his obvious frustration. By this time Hafiz was making some decent bowling look almost pedestrian and in his new partner Fox he found someone of a similar mind. Fox neatly tucked his first ball to the boundary and was obviously keen to score of every delivery, but not ‘quick’ singles if he could help it! Hafiz was next to go when a thick outside edge flew to cover – it was the end of a job well done. Collet and Fox continued to dominate the Leatherhead bowling. Fox loves the ball coming onto him and is one of the best at playing off his legs - a sweetly timed shot to the mid-wicket boundary saw the quickest bowler from Leatherhead applauding what was a very special shot. Then, and for the second consecutive match, Fox was unable to make his ground and a sharp piece of fielding saw him yards short of his crease and he was on his way. This brought young Tim Stewart to the crease and immediately he looked composed and self-assured. Captain Collett then unleashed a series of glorious looking drives, cuts and pulls which included a sumptuous straight drive for six which even the bowler had to stand back and admire. Not to be outdone Stewart (T) played one of the shots of the day when he lent into the shot to produce a text book cover drive to the boundary which quite rightly was greeted by great applause of appreciation. With the number of overs drying up and looking to up the tempo young Stewart was caught. Meanwhile Captain Collett continued the onslaught but was to lose his next partner Dennis quickly after Stewart when he was caught and bowled trying to force the ball over the bowler in an effort to selflessly give the strike to Collett. With only a couple of balls remaining Collett was the last man to depart when he too selflessly ran for a second in a final attempt to push the score to 140. The innings ended on 135. It was a great and entertaining effort but was it enough…

The familiar opening combination of Knowles and Coppen (Josh) was back. Coppen, took a few deliveries to find his radar but when he did he located the middle stump of the Leatherhead number two who was known to many as a batsman that can dominate an attack once settled. Horsley were up and running. The next over Knowles found the outside edge of the number three batsman and great diving catch saw Dennis at first slip celebrating. However replays (comments from those around!) suggested the ball had hit the ground! REALLY, mused Dennis!!! These two, bowling a good length managed to keep the Leatherhead batsmen in abeyance and the frustration was beginning to tell. Yalden replaced Coppen and like the latter took a few balls to find his rhythm but once he had done so he both batsmen in trouble. In fact a faint outside edge almost went to hand which would have been just deserts for a fine comeback. At the other end Hafiz too was proving a handful and the batsmen had no answer. Both Hafiz and Yalden were unlucky not to get a wicket, on another day they would have been rewarded. Then came the beginning of the end for Leatherhead. Young Coppen (Jack) combined with Misra at a time when Leatherhead needed to go on the attack but instead wickets were to fall. Coming down the hill Coppen (Jack) was generating some good pace and some movement and in conceding only a few was given the ball for a second over. Having been hit to the boundary Coppen then produced a gem of a delivery and a bemused number 5 batsman could only look back in dismay to see the bails on the ground – a very proud moment! You would not have known that this was Misra’s first outing of the season. At the other end Misra was immediately in the groove and immediately in the wickets in fact, three of them! The first to go was the number there batsman when he hit high into the covers only to see Tim Stewart take a good catch. The next two were almost identical in fashion where the batsmen misjudged the line and the off stump was pegged back – well done and welcome back Aditya. Not wanting to be outdone Dennis then promptly removed the number7, 8 and 9 batsmen in rapid fire. Bowling a good line and length and at a decent pace he one caught and bowled and the other two bowled – good work Harry, we will miss you when you are away on your travels.

This was a great all round performance from Horsley where each of the boys contributed to the win. What separates us from other teams is where they may have some good bowlers and/or some good batsmen we are team of genuine all-rounders. There are not many teams that can say that; well done boys…

Thanks to Kate Coppen for scoring and special thanks go to Tim Stewart and Jack Coppen not only for stepping up to make it eleven players but also for their valuable respective contributions…

That’s it

Nigel