Saturday 3rd July 2010.

Sway Stay in Title Contention

Sway I 250-5, Fawley II 173-8 Sway won by 77 runs

 Sway welcomed high flying Fawley II to the Jubilee fields for a potential promotion chase for the Regional Division 1 South title. The game was surely going to be a tight affair and the huge crowd (Chaz Cutler) were sure to be in for a real treat!
 
So when the Sway skipper lost the toss with no obvious decision whether to bat or bowl first the Fawley captain elected to bowl first after much debate. Quite clearly a little fearful of the Sway pace attack with a new cherry. With the in form Atapattu stuck in Lyndhurst having wished he had spent more money on the old banger than his 3lb piece of willow, the usually robust and consistent top order had to be tinkered with which meant the openers of Adam Clark and big hitting Alex Hall would have to steady the ship early doors.
 
The opening pair strutted to the crease and took guard to the opening bowlers of W. Anis and A. Cole They settled in and soon began to punish any bad balls which in all truth were fairly few and far between. The outfield was rapid and the score read 51 for 0 of the first 10 overs. This included some lovely crisp straight drives from Clark, one of which came straight of the screws and almost decapitated the Fawley skipper. Fawley were forced into a corner and had to make a bold decision to bring the off spinner into the attack early. This paid off immediately when Hall played around a ball which gripped and he was bowled for a useful 18. With Atty still getting changed Jon Grasham made the decision to head out himself and hopefully add to the good foundations already laid. This proved to be a good move as after a period of consolidation the ball started to get hammered to all parts again. The score continued to mount until Clark was caught for a agonising 48. This enabled the now "padded" Atapattu to apply his trade. From the off Atty pounced on anything pitched up smashing with great bat speed through mid-wicket. Grasham fearing he would be over taken within a few overs also stepped up and started to unleash some big shots himself. A. Cole was brought back to stem the damage and forced Atty into a slight edge which the keeper snaffled for a quick fire 32. With only 11 overs left Thornton was given the nod to continue the blaze of runs, this however wasn't to be as he received probably the best ball of the innings which floored his middle stump for a golden. The order resumed as usual and How joined Grasham and continued to play shots impressively. How was trapped LBW for 28 and Dan Stevenson chipped in with a impressive strike rate of 200 hitting a couple off the last ball. Grasham finishing on 88 not out including three 6's. Pick of the bowlers being the restricting W. Smith (10-2-45-2)
 
After a typical Sway feast of a tea, Sway took to the field knowing that no team had ever chased 250 down against arguably one of the strongest bowling attacks in the league. J Dog Walton took the 1st over and started miserly as always with shots being played sometimes feet away from the ball. George Thornton took the other end to hopefully attack the stumps with his sharp yorkers. However it was a length ball that got driven to mid-on where Grasham took a low but simple catch. Thornton bowled well given that Fawley were playing shots and several edges found the boundary. He grabbed his second clean bowling the Fawley skipper for 11. Although a good start Fawley were scoring runs and after 10 overs they were on the required run rate. With Walton continuing to tie up one end the Skipper decided on a blast from himself. In only his 3rd ball cleaning up J Ford for 12. This bought the dangerous S Thomas to the crease but the now fully fired up Sway skipper was too much to handle and could only edge a attempted hook straight up for a caught and bowled. Grasham dismissed S Rogers for 2, getting stuck in his crease and trapped LBW. Thistleton replaced Grasham and continued the good work bagging a wicket. The game now was now won but getting 4 remaining wickets being the target for 24 points. Walton finished his glorious spell and was unlucky not to strike finishing on (10-2-24-0). Atty replaced Walton and was unlucky when his very first ball could only be palmed at first slip, not long later he got his man as Adam "Gilchrist" Clark pounced for a stumping. The last 9 overs meant Sway needed just 3 wickets. Terry Patch chipped in with one but unfortunately the lower order of Fawley wagged and at the end of play finished on 174 for 8. 76 runs short.
 
A fine win for Sway who continue to impress in the first season in Regional Division 1 South. Next match sees a awkward away trip to Hyde who are a team on the way up much like Sway.

Skipper Jon Grasham - 88 not out, 3 wickets and match report author!