Hoddy Hammer Hertford in T-20 Comp!

Bank Holiday Monday 4th May saw a strong Hoddesdon XI claim a memorable victory over local rivals Hertford in the Saracens Hertfordshire T20 competition, their first competitive match of the season.

Having lost the toss, Hoddesdon were asked to bowl on a batsmen friendly Lowfield wicket and were put under the cosh early on by an explosive opening stand of 65 in 6 overs. This partnership was broken as George Duke claimed the wicket of James Leather for a swift innings of 44 off of 19 balls. The dismissal however did not halt the away-sides progress and at the halfway point of the innings, the away side were in a strong position at 102-1.

Wickets were needed if Hoddesdon were going to reduce Hertford to a manageable total and thankfully the age and experience of Martin Brown proved too much for the Hertford captain Steve Gale, removing him for a relatively subdued 41 off of 35 balls. Two overs later, the enthusiastic Harry Mason claimed the scalp of the aggressive Olly Ray, removing him for 34 off of 22 balls.

Despite these wickets in short succession, Hertford continued at a strong run rate, and at 15 overs were on 148 – 3. However, some tight bowling and 2 wickets in 2 overs for Brown and Mason followed helped restrict Hertford and after a wicket in the final over from James Mead up against his old club, Herford finished on a total of 182 – 6 in their 20 overs.

Although Hoddesdon did well to claw back Hertford, their score of 182 was still a stiff ask and the home side needed to start well in order to chase it down successfully. Thankfully, they achieved just that with the brute force and timing of both Rob Jones and Martin Brown helped dispatch the experienced opening bowlers to all parts of Lowfield. The partnership was broken after 6 overs with Brown being dismissed by Richard Leather for 24 off of 20, leaving Hoddesdon in a strong position of 65-1. This loss of wicket did not stop the onslaught however, as Jones, joined by Davis, continued to find the boundary. At the halfway stage Hoddesdon were sitting in a similar position to Herford at 100 – 1 after 10.

Any concerns of a similar slow-down was squashed in the following over as the run hungry pair tucked in to the off-spin bowling of Scott Ruskin, with a whole smorgasbord of tasty shots on display in an innings high of 17 off of the 11th over. Jones and Davis continued to rack up the runs until Jones was finally dismissed for 78 off of 45 balls with the economic bowling of Adam Carlson ending a wonderful innings. The wicket of Todd Sturdy followed in the next over, with the particularly expensive Salter finding some solace by dismissing him for 2. Joined by the wise head of Anthony “The Fossil” Higgs, Davis took the initiative as the pair closed down the total with consummate ease, excluding a run-out scare, with Hoddesdon knocking off the total with 5 balls and 7 wickets to spare. Davis ended up on 49* off of 34 balls and Higgs ably assisting with 12 from 12.

Sam Davis was nominated MOM from the Head coach for his unbeaten 49 and his impressively tight bowling spell of 4-1-0-21.