Shahzad's scores 202* as Hurley set three club records draw against Harpsden

Phil Ridgeway

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Hurley 1sts

Hurley batsmen suffered no hangover from their poor performance in their last match against Emmbrook & Bearwood, setting three new club records on an absolute road at Harpsden.

With several players still trying to negotiate the Henley Bridge traffic, Mushtaq Hussain stood in for the skipper at the toss and opted to bat first.

The first few overs were sedate enough, with twenty-nine runs coming from seven overs for the loss of Jasdeep Singh (5), bowled by the veteran Rod Birkett. Adnan Shahzad soon found that the bowling had little threat on such a good track and by the time Hussain (5) fell, stepping onto his stumps going back to an Ed Birkett delivery, the score had progressed to 49 in the twelfth over.

This was the signal for a long hard slog in the field for the Harpsden fielders as Shahzad and Naeem Hussain racked up a club record third wicket partnership of 223 in twenty-five overs. Shahzad relied on brute strength, smashing the ball to all parts of the ground and benefitting from some shoddy fielding as several catches went down.

Hussain’s innings was one of pure class, stroking the ball elegantly and finding the smallest of gaps between fielders. With the pace bowlers having no effect in slowing down the onslaught, Will Stevens turned to the young Abhiveer Rawat who eventually got the much-needed breakthrough, having Hussain (120) stumped with the score on 272.

The 300 came up for Hurley in the thirty-ninth over, but rather than declare, they batted on to allow Shahzad to bring up his double-century before calling a halt after 43 overs, leaving Harpsden an improbable target of 355 to win from forty-seven overs.

Hurley opted to open the bowling with the left-arm spin of Fiyyaz Mahmood and Phil Ridgeway, utilising the old ball and Ridgeway got an early breakthrough as Ashcroft chipped to Shahzad at mid-wicket. His opening partner Rawat soon followed, bowled by Mahmood.

After eight overs of spin, the new ball was taken by Adnan Liaquat and Umar Zamman, but with the pitch offering no assistance to the bowlers, they made little impact until Liaquat produced a delivery that seamed away to take the off stump of Emile Rayfield. Liaquat also dismissed Zac McConkey who top edged to the keeper.

Ed Birkett joined Hamish Arnold in the middle and produced a master class in defensive batting, while Arnold tried to be more aggressive. The return of Ridgeway saw Arnold well caught at point by Jasdeep and with 235 still needed from nineteen overs, any chance of a Harpsden victory was long gone. Will Stevens (58*) and Birkett (56*) made the game safe before Birkett showed some attacking intent to get to a well-deserved half-century and ensure five batting points for his side as Harpsden finished on 238 for 5.

It was certainly a day for batsmen, with nearly 600 runs being scored for the loss of only nine wickets. Shahzad’s 202* was a new individual record score for Hurley and the total of 354 was also a club record.

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Hurley Sunday team

A sunny day at Shepherds Lane saw a run fest as Hurley took on new opponents Aldworth in a 35 over per side match.

Shoaib Kayani won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first. Joban Singh struck in his first over to trap Wainright in front of middle stump.

Despite the early setback, Mike Fane (80) and Sathish (30) attacked the bowling with gusto. Some shoddy fielding from Hurley did not help their cause, especially when Fane was dropped on 5. The introduction of Awais Hussain from the Shepherds Lane end paid dividends as he had Sathish caught at square-leg by Mubashir Nabi and then Alistair Smellie caught at mid-wicket by Haider-Ali Baig off the next delivery.

A few overs later Aldworth were reduced to 77 for 4 with Ajmal Ali taking the catch to dismiss Wardlaw and give Hussain his third wicket.

Undeterred, the Aldworth batsmen continued to attack. Mark Baker (63) survived a confident appeal for a stumping off Nigel Haines before falling LBW, ducking into a full toss from Ajmal. Haines did get his reward, having Fane caught in the deep by Baig.

The young left armer, Faizan Javed chipped in with a couple of wickets, but the Aldworth tail wagged vigorously to set a challenging total of 271 for 8.

Hurley opened their reply at a good pace with Matt Hampton (5) and Baig posting 49 for the first wicket. Majid (17), and Kayani (20) both got themselves in but perished in the quest for runs. Ajmal, (0), Hussain (1) and Javed (2) fell in quick succession, leaving Joban as the only real hope for Hurley.

With 49 required off the last four overs, this was beyond Joban (34*) and Walton (2*) and Hurley finished 39 runs short.