In a nail biting finish Huncote managed to hold their nerve and scrape home by 1 wicket. Ian Crossley once again lost the toss but surprisingly Huncote were asked to field on a wet looking track. This was emphasised as T Kirby’s first few balls shot through at ankle height, the track was to play very slow and low all afternoon. Unfortunately the heavy rain during the week had killed any chances of a high scoring encounter and even though the outfield was short it seemed very slow. Kirby and Wayne Smith opened up and kept things tight, so much so that Taveners opener Pete Kirby looked for a quick single when there wasn’t one there and got run out by Sommer. After 14 overs Kirby got taken out of the attack and replaced by Knibbs. That had the desired effect at he bowled the left handed Powedrill 2nd ball.

It was a scratchy innings from the Taveners captain who played and missed a lot and never really got going, credit to Huncote for stopping his qualities. The big number 3, Peck, was looking in good form though and anything pitched up was dispatched straight as Haroon Kawaja was to find out later. Wayne Smith finally picked up his first wicket of the day as he bowled a mesmorised Cumberlidge. Knibbs grabbed his second wicket and slowly Huncote we dragging themselves back into the game. Driver, who soon picked up a good line and length and got a bit of swing, replaced Smith. Kawaja was then given the ball but struggled to get his length right and was hit for 26 from 3 overs prompting Kirby to re-enter the attack. Almost immediately he picked up a wicket courtesy of a sharp catch by Kawaja in the cover region. Smith entered the attack from the other end and grabbed his second wicket once again clean bowled. Huncote were now into the lower order but the score was creeping up and 2 more wickets were needed to finish Taveners off. One of these came from a Kirby ball that young Dyke smashed high and long to the safe hands of P Kirby at long off. In Kirby’s next over came the final wicket as Dyke senior was clean bowled, Taveners finished on 146 which looked a good score on a below average surface.

A good tea was taken with some excellent cakes which all enjoyed. Huncote opened up with Crossley and Hubbard as usual and started well with Crossley timing the ball well. Dyke spraying the ball around helped the cause, bowling too many wides; he has some good pace but needs to learn how to use it if he is to ever become a dangerous bowler. Crossley was on 13 when he played what he described as a lazy shot and was bowled by Looms. Sommer in an experimental role of number 3 joined Frank and although runs were hard to come by both players looked comfortable, Frank was looking back to something like his old self as he started playing a few big shots with a textbook pull through mid wicket a highlight. These two added 49 before Sommer was run out by the bowler, Jones, he drove the ball straight back and as he looked for a single the bowler picked up the ball and threw down his stumps. A good hard working innings by Sommer, adding to a good foundation for Huncote.

Spencer came and went to a strange one which went down as bowled but with the aid of slow motion cameras it might have been an interesting one. Haroon entered the game and was looking to pick up the scoring rate, so too was Frank Hubbard who on 33 played a rash shot and was bowled. Frank batted well but once again I feel he let himself down by trying to play a big shot when staying there and letting others take the risks round him might have been more advisable. Pete Kirby joined Haroon and looked in fine form scoring freely particularly through the leg side. Then Haroon was given out to a dubious LBW decision. T Kirby came and went with a quickfire 7 and Knibbs only managed 1 less then Kirby. Driver joined P Kirby who by now was rapidly progressing the total towards to 147 target. A big 6 straight over the sightscreen took Kirby to 41 and Huncote to within 16 of their target when disaster struck, Kirby was caught at point and in the very next over Driver was bowled for 2.

A great innings by Pete Kirby who is becoming a quality batsman at this level and it won’t be long before he is getting the big scores. So it came down to the wire 3.4 overs left and 1 wicket remaining. Mark Scrimshire and Wayne Smith were left in and to be fair not many people gave them a hope of winning it from here. The pair started to get a few singles going keeping the scoreboard ticking over and not losing their wicket. So Looms the bowler 8 balls to go 12 runs needed, a loose ball on the legs was picked up by Scrimshire, who flicked it down to a wide fine leg for 4 runs. His first four and some timid celebrations on the balcony, the last ball of the over was seen off leaving Huncote needing 8 from the last over to be bowled by Dyke senior.

Wayne stroked the first ball to long off for a single, Mark then dropped the next into the leg side and scampered a quick single. 6 needed 4 balls, Wayne then connected with one through the leg side, the crowd rose sensing a 4 but the ball was pulled up short with 2 runs scored. 4 from 3 needed, Wayne connected again but hit it hard and low to long on only one scores. 3 needed 2 balls remaining, Mark on strike surveying the ground to see where the winning runs could be scored. The ball was bowled it was a leg side delivery the big man swivelled and played a great leg side flick. The two men started running the balcony rose to their feet, Mark Scrimshire had timed it perfectly and as the ball rolled over the boundary rope the Huncote players charged the field in wild celebrations. What an amazing victory for Huncote and one that has kept them in the hunt for promotion. Good effort by the Taverners in particular Duncan Jones with the ball, and Peck for a gutsy fifty

MOM Peter Kirby for a quality knock of 41 and getting Huncote into any sort of position to challenge for the victory.

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