Hambledon have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Village Cup, for the first time since 1989, after a tense 5-run victory over Somerset side Congresbury.
After a slow and shaky start, Chris Pratt (106) and Will Parvin (57) put together a stand of 161, before a flurry of wickets saw us through to a total of 212. Congresbury in reply got off to a steady start after a wicket in the first over, but Hambledon kept their nerve and took wickets just when they were really needed – three for Jonty Oliver, and two each for Elliot Lewis and veteran Ian Turner. Rain threatened to put a damper on the game with just three overs to go, but the 25 runs required from 3 overs after the restart proved too much for the last-wicket pair, thanks to some tight bowling from James Restell and Chris Pratt, and the visitors fell 5 runs short.
Hambledon travel to Goatacre in Wiltshire for their quarter-final, hoping to turn the tables on the team who knocked us out of the cup in the previous round last year. For those wishing to travel to support the Dons, a coach is being laid on by our ever-generous sponsor Geoff from UTP – full details to follow.
You can see the full scorecard from yesterday’s match along with a replay of the livestream; and there are loads of photos in the gallery...