On the last day of the shortened 2020 the hares arrived at the picturesque Shardeloes ground for a game against local rivals Amersham. The last game of the season also coinciding with the last game of Douglas King's reign as Harefield captain.
Skipper Doug won the toss and elected to bat on a flat but tacky Amersham pitch. This decision looked questionable at 20/3. The Hares were in need of a hero, and thankfully this is what they got. Son of club legend McLeod Snr Tom McLeod walked out to bat knowing a rescue job was needed. This was exactly what he did, well supported by young Olly Stalder (41). The sixth wicket partnership between McLeod and Stalder totalling 78 set the perfect platform for the Harefield lower order to come and whack a few to get the score up. When Stalder ran himself out and Skipper Doug (33) joined McLeod, the result was like nothing seen before. A six hitting contest of the highest order between the club’s biggest and smallest hitters resulted in a quick fire 56 partnership for the seventh wicket including McLeod's first two Saturday 6s. This set Harefield well on their way to a big total. With a few more good shots from McLeod who finished on a well made 77* the score found itself at 234/9 after our 40 overs. This score at halfway seemed very defendable. The Amersham chase got off to a quick start with both of their openers hitting a few boundaries off of the Hares opening bowlers. This quick start prompted an early change to spin. With Matt Ogden the spinner to be thrown the ball, well inside the power play, and there was instant reward with Matt outfoxing the Amersham opener who hit one to Marshall who was adjudged to have taken a low catch at cover. This stemmed the run rate and a few wickets from Crick, J. McLeod and Croft left Amersham in a bit of trouble at 119/6 with the Hares score looking a long way away. Amersham were in need of a partnership and this was what developed between Andy Viney (no longer Jordan’s bunny) and Amersham skipper Sam Helm. Their partnership of 97, that didn’t include a very questionable run out chance, was very good and included one over from the outgoing skipper that went for 27. This partnership left Amersham in a position that they should have won from needing 19 from the last 4. Then came another twist as Jord came back and rather than try to get Andy Viney out he tried to break his hand with a beamer, which in the end worked as from this point the Amersham batsman couldn’t find the rope. Some very good death overs from Doug and Jord ended up resulted in a Harefield win by 7 runs. The result of the game means the Hares finish in the grand old position of 13th in the HCPCL 2020 league. Harefield 234/9 (40 overs) Amersham 227/9 (40 overs) Harefield won by 7 runs. Scorecard Link: https://hcpcl.play-cricket.com/website/results/4520998 Match Report written by T. McLeod
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