REGIONAL DIVISION 4 SW

SWAY  III  225 - 7 HORDLE  II  90 - 7. Sway won by 135 runs

Sway 3rds travelled the short distance to local rivals Hordle and were put in to bat with colts Andy Straw and Laurie Symons continuing in their roles as openers putting on 31 before the guileful Andy Varney bowled Symons for 15. New bat Casper Todd was soon into his stride and looked set for another big score but he also went bowled by Varney for 21 and with the evergreen Ken Bishop having Jack Baughan caught by former Sway player Stan Wooldridge in his first over Hordle were back in the game with the score at 62 - 3 after 14 overs. The in form Charlie Smith joined Straw and they reached the halfway point without any further wickets falling and also saw off Varney who finished his excellent spell with figures of 2 for 13. Smith was next to go after making a classy 30 runs as he dragged a ball from another former Sway man Mike Race on to his stumps and started a mini collapse as Race and Bishop each took their second wickets leaving Sway at 125 - 6 in the 29th over. Fortunately for the visitors Andy Straw was still batting radiantly and he and Dave Hurrell added 64 runs for the 7th wicket both having to run most of the time as the slow outfield made boundaries hard to come by, Hurrell eventually fell to Race ( 3 - 48 ) to be replaced by Steve Drayton who did find the rope hitting a brisk 29 not out helping Straw to see Sway past the 200 mark and with just 7 deliveries remaining Straw completed a notable century finishing 100 not out with his team on 225 - 7. At just 15 years and 9 months, Straw has become the youngest Sway player to score a century in a competitive fixture

Hordle's reply was hard going as Smith and Matthew Brearley both bowled exceptional spells and they certainly deserved more than the one wicket they collected between them as Brearley ended on 0 - 14 from his 10 overs with Smith taking 1 - 12 from his 10, opener John Steeds being caught at mid wicket by Andy Glasspool. John Grounds was joined in the middle by Damien Locke and these two took the score up to 44 before both batsmen fell on this total to batting hero Straw and Drayton who both took further wickets as Straw claimed 2- 14 and Drayton 3 - 22. Despite trying occasional bowlers Hurrell and Pete Hammett Sway couldn't bowl out Hordle with only the running out of Bishop leaving the score on 90 -7 at the conclusion of play.   

Century maker.Andy Straw defending well against an unwanted rearguard attack from teammate Casper Todd!