BARNARDS GREEN IV V HANLEY CASTLE & UPTON II

BARNARDS Green Fourths welcomed Hanley Castle & Upton Seconds to Newland for the WCL Division Four South 2nd XI fixture, and hoped to continue their positive start to the season.

The Green were asked to bat on a decent looking track. Knapper and Lewis again started well, punishing the bad ball and keeping out the good deliveries. Wheeler then replaced Knapper and played his usual aggressive innings of hard-hitting. With Wheeler (26), Banks (19), Perkins (16) and Dick Brown (37) all playing the aggressive roles, Lewis continued to push the ball around and show maturity beyond his years to finish with a fine 79no.

The Green finished on 232-6 from their 45 overs. Hanley bowlers, including the youngsters J Lewis (2-58) and Olivia Robinson (1-58) bowled well, whilst captain Charles Robinson (2-48 from 16 overs) was the pick.

With every member of the Green fielding unit being capable of bowling, confidence was high of being able to bowl Hanley out and take 24 points from the game. The Hanley batters had different ideas.

With attacking fields being set throughout the innings, Hanley were able to score at a frequent rate, but were always behind the run rate. With two partnerships of over 50, seven different bowlers were used to try and get the breakthrough for the Green win.

In the end Hanley held on to finish on 191-8 from 45 overs. Dave Price bowled well and was unlucky not to gain more reward than the 2-40 which he finished with.

Wheeler finished with figures of 10 overs, 5-28. James and Lewis both finished on 42 for Hanley and both batted with maturity and played some powerful shots.

In the end, the Green will rue missing some easy catches and the ball dropping between fielders.

The Green took 15 points from the match.