HAWKLEY’S opponents on Sunday were a team assembled by sometime Hawkley cricketer Viv Evans.
Hawkley were looking for a sixth successive win and a sizeable crowd of supporters enjoyed a competitive but good-natured game followed by a barbecue orga
nised by Viv, who donates two lambs each year from his Empshott farm to be eaten after the game.
Hawkley chose to bat. Henry Batten and Nick Davies made a strong start with a stand of 35. Skipper Rich Humphreys’ poor form continued as he departed third ball without troubling the scorer.
Thereafter Hawkley went from strength to strength. Gavin Thompson made an impressive 46 supported by Nick Todd with a rapid 22, and Francis Usmar added 26.
Mark Hibberd and Angus Hasloch finished undefeated on 15 and 13, for a team total of 168-6.
The Evans XI were soon in trouble when four wickets fell for few runs. Nigel Brown, guesting for the opposition against his regular team-mates, and Chris Troth put on valuable runs before Brown lost his off-stump to an inswinger.
Thereafter the score mounted slowly until Viv Evans salvaged his team’s pride with a true captain’s innings, unleashing an impressive array of strokes.
With valuable support Evans advanced the score to 156 before running out of partners in the last over, finishing undefeated on 59.
Hawkley this week travel to Chawton as they look to continue their recent unbeaten run.
The full article contains 251 words and appears in PP-Post Edition newspaper.
