After a poor showing with the bat away at Waterlooville last weekend, the Second XI returned to the Heath to
take on Purbrook in a very important clash for the wrong end of the table – Purbrook in desperate need of win
to force a scrap with their hosts to retain Division 5 status in the final two weekends of the season, with
Petersfield looking to end a poor recent run of form to lift themselves clear of any realistic danger with a win…

So, with the game’s important status in no doubt, Petersfield captain Steve Gibson set out to the middle intent
on winning a toss and bowling first. Of course, in such a critical fixture, Gibson tossed poorly and awarded
Purbrook the choice (Tosswatch: having attained parity last week, Steve is back in negative territory – six from
thirteen for the season). Purbrook electing to field first, with Petersfield being asked to set a total.

Petersfield openers Tom Horwood (116 not out) and Jake Hastie (22) made their way to the middle to begin
proceedings. The pair were resolute in the early exchanges in the face of a Purbrook openers Jawad
Mohammad (0-53) and Rhys Lloyd (0-28) swinging the ball late and extracting variable bounce, making life
difficult for the batters, with the support of some notable efforts in the field to build pressure. It was the
Petersfield pair, however, who came out of the opening battle ahead – seeing off both openers and scoring a
rate of about four runs per over and keeping all ten wickets in hand, and bringing up a fifty partnership in the
process. It was the introduction of first change bowlers Mo Orakhill (1-38) and the visiting captain Nathan
Smelling (2-29) that looked to be bring the contest back in to balance, both bowling tightly and not giving
many chances. It was Smelling who made the first breakthrough, rewarded for his efforts by trapping Hastie in
front with one of his slower balls that Hastie attempted to sweep. This brought Petersfield captain Steve
Gibson (15) to the crease, who was quickly off the mark with a glorious clip through wide mid-on off Orakhill.
Horwood and Gibson saw Petersfield to drinks just one wicket down. Thankfully, the old adage of “always one
for drinks” didn’t come to pass, as Gibson and Horwood looked to kick things on, with Horwood bringing up his
half-century soon after. Having done a lot of the hard work to see off the dangerous spell of Smelling, Gibson
did however depart off the last ball of Smelling’s spell, Gibson’s opposite number drifting one through his
defences to cannon in to leg stump.

Gibson’s untimely demise did however come with the score at 114-2, a solid platform for Petersfield’s hard-
hitting middle order to launch from – the first of which being James Longland (30). He got going quickly, taking
the attack to the sharp Will Massey (0-42) and Josh Hunter (0-20), carving the ball over extra-cover to get off
the mark and continuing in similar vein. As well as a few lusty blows, Horwood and Longland ran hard to really
up the rate, making the scoring difficult to contain. Longland did, however, fall – trapped in front off the
returning Orakhill, but with the score now 182-3 with a few overs to go, Longland had done a solid job to up
the rate. Archibald MacLean (12 not out) joined Horwood at the crease, and looked to continue in the same
vein as Longland, going hard at the ball and looking to turn the strike over to the set Horwood who was on the
offensive, walking at bowlers looking to put them under more pressure. With two overs to spare, the
champagne moment of the innings finally arrived, with Horwood bringing up a hard-earned, well-constructed
Century with a straight drive that mid-off couldn’t cut up – rapturous applause from the sidelines, and fist
bumps galore in the middle! The innings ended in positive fashion, Horwood striking lusty blows including the
only six of the Petersfield innings, to see Petersfield to an admirable total of 223-3 from their allotted forty
overs, with Horwood carrying his bat through the innings ending 116 not out – fine day’s work for the side’s
Badger-In-Chief.

A return to the Heath also meaning a return of Teas, with James Longland providing a fine spread of
sandwiches, cakes, crisps and significant variety of fruit. Petersfield able to spend tea positive about a batting
performance for the first time in while! With tea done and dusted (and Horwood just about cooled down from
forty overs in batting gear…), it was time for Petersfield to take to the field to convert a strong position in to a
maximum 24-point haul with a strong performance in the field.

Petersfield captain Steve Gibson (5-32) and Adam Kidd (1-20) took the new ball, and immediately began to
make inroads into the Purbrook top order, who looked troubled by the Petersfield openers’ accuracy,
movement of the slightly inconsistent bounce from the Heath wicket. It was Gibson who made the first
breakthrough, removing Rhys Lloyd (0) with the second ball of the innings, and repeating the trick in his next
over by removing Purbrook number three James Ludbrook (2) with an identical delivery to bowl him. Other
opener Ben Parker (10) and Sadiq Khan (1) looked rebuild from the early setback, but Kidd got in on the act,
removing Khan, excellently caught by Jake Hastie at slip, taking a spiralling high catch over his shoulder. With
11-3, Purbrook captain Nathan Smelling (28) came to the crease, with his side really in need of a big skipper’s
innings to see them in with a chance of chasing their total… He and Parker did look to rebuild, taking the score
to 34 before Gisbon then removed Parker who somehow kicked a ball that was heading down leg off his knee
roll on to the stumps. Gibson then made in two wickets in two balls, trapping Jacob Leunig-Younger (0) in front
with his first delivery. Gibson couldn’t quite complete the hattrick, with Jawad Mohammad (18) just about
surviving the delivery, edging the ball but safely in the ground rather than the hands of one of the many
ornamental close fielders customarily put in place for hattrick deliveries.
Smelling and Muhammad did begin to launch a counterattack, Muhammad taking a bit of liking to Gibson in
dispatching him for two sixes in short succession. This cameo from Muhammad was eventually concluded with
Gibson getting his man and completing his well-deserved fifer in the process, Muhammad chipping one to
Archibald Maclean at short extra-cover what should have been a regulation catch – Maclean however clearly
after a career in the circus picked this moment in time to audition for a spot in a Big Top show, juggling the ball
a good five times before it eventually nestled in his mitts. Well bowled, skip! Smelling was riding his luck at the
other end, dropped twice off Nathan Barlow (1-15) who had been introduced to the attack, and eventually his
resistance was ended when he was eventually caught off Barlow at the third time of asking. Josh Hunter (0)
was then unfortunate to be run out without facing a single delivery, called through but fell victim to an
excellent throw from Gibson, who let lose the T-Rex Cannon loose to inflict a direct hit. With the score now at
68-8, Purbrook were largely underwater in their pursuit of a target of 224… There was however time for some
quick runs down the order to delay Petersfield’s celebrations a little, with Will Massey (14) and Joe Perkins (12
not out) going after Suraj Sashidharan (1-30), but Massey fell to Archie Maclean (1-3), caught at cover. Mo
Orakhill (1) made it to double figures, showing positive intent off both Stuart Kidd (0-7) and Sashidharan, but
their resistance was ended just in time (iPad charger for Live Scoring down to 3% battery!), with Sashidharan
getting his man, well caught by Gibson at mid-on (completing a memorable day in the field for Gibson, who
involved in nine of the Purbrook wickets). Purbrook all out for 107, with Petersfield winning by 116 runs
(Horwood’s innings earlier the precise margin of victory…).

So, a comprehensive win for the Second XI with maximum points taken to all but assure a third season in
Division Five, with the Heath’s Honours Board taking a hammering with two new entries in the day – Gibson’s
fine fifer in the second half to follow on from Horwood’s assured Century earlier in the day (with both Gibson
and Horwood entering the division’s top 10 wicket-takers and run-getters respectively, as an added bonus). All
that remained in the day were Fines and plenty of celebratory drinks to round out a superb day for the side!
Doubt lingers over whether there will be a Second XI fixture, with Havant the scheduled opponents who have
forfeited a number of games recently… Stay tuned for updates as the season reaches its finale!