Hampshire at Portsmouth Grammar School on Sunday 25th June, 2006 won by 47 runs

No glimpse of sun but close and muggy at Portsmouth – and Matt Thompson’s run of winning tosses comes to an end! But Hampshire put us in……backing up what we would have chosen anyway. Banking on the pitch worsening through the afternoon, getting them behind the clock chasing our total and bringing the spin attack into play.

A better opening attack than other recent games demanded extra vigilance from Lewis Gregory and Luke Tuckett especially to the left armer Wright – but they saw off the first 10 overs gleaning 32 including 3 boundaries and few extras. By the first drinks break (15 overs) they’d advanced to 42, with first change seamer, Belcher, racking up 3 successive maidens to apply more brake to the run rate.

The distraction of drinks usually brings inevitable changes in the psychological balance and here was no exception. With both batters now looking well settled it was the bowlers who lost focus and the burgeoning opening partnership began to look more and more formidable – 50, 70 then 90 in the 25th over. The Hampshire cause was not helped by twice putting down chances from Lewis Gregory, and he forged ahead reaching his fifty on the 29th over. At the second drinks break at thirty overs Devon were 112-0 and Hampshire were looking down the barrel of a very long gun. The slow outfield added to an increasing number of sweepers on the boundary meant that accelerating the run rate would probably be in singles and 2s rather than out and out hitting. Tuckett and Gregory set about the task, and when yet another regulation catch was missed off Tuckett we all thought he too would reach his fifty. He fell 5 runs short - this time finding a safe pair of hands. The superb opening partnership was finally broken on 125, and as often happens, the other partner falls soon after – Gregory out in the next over to a blinding catch for a masterful 61. The scene was now set on 126-2 – how would the big guns tackle the last 10 overs? Will Gater and Matt Hickey pushed it along to 153 in the 39th when Gater was bowled by Wright. James Toland joined Hickey and it was a “range finding” exercise for his first half dozen deliveries ........... Hickey was out at the end of the 41st over with the score on 164, and Hampshire must have been reasonably confident of keeping a lid on the scoring for the last four overs. But Toland was at the crease - the right man at the right time for Devon and he ruthlessly plundered everything on offer. He and Matt Thompson (3) put on 42 in an exciting display of hitting and running between the wickets.

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