SUNDAY / FRIENDLY CRICKET.

Sunday May 20th Vs SARISBURY ATHLETIC

Page Shines As Hythe Beat Sarisbury For The First Time In a Decade

Hythe achieved a rare and deserved victory over Sarisbury this afternoon and they had to do with it fielding with just 10 men. Paul Whitlock pulled up when batting and played no further part in the game. Hythe were struggling early on and lost wickets at regular intervals against some good tight bowling from Harrison and Orr.

Things got worse when Whitlock hobbled off after he was keeping the innings together. But James Page made his intents known early on with 2 very good fours. Once the Sarisbury skipper ribbed him about the pink handle on his bat Pagie got stuck in for a match winning innings of 41.

At one stage Hythe were looking to struggle to 120 but Robbie James held the tail together finishing unbeaten himself on 29 and Ben Smith 10 not out. Hythe finished their innings at tea on 178 for 9.

Hythe went out to field with 10 players which could have quite easily reduced to nine when Tibbles decided to dive across the drain cover and Ben Smith decided to close his eyes for a catch and the ball triggered upto his forehead.

At the drinks break Sarisbury needed 7 an over after the Hythe bowlers kept the aussie and the rest of the batsman under wraps. Once Betreen was bowled by Robbie James for 34 that was it and it was just then a case of wether Hythe could get 10 wickets to win the game.

All the Hythe bowlers bowled well backed up by some very good fielding. Robbie James was the pick of the bowlers taking 3-21 off 10 overs including a very good diving caught & bowled. The Sarisbury skipper said he had not seen anyone as quick as Nardus this year which is a good sign for the coming months.

Ewan Bell rolled back the Northy years taking 2 for 5 off 3 overs and it was the skipper who turned the game with his .... I don't know what he was bowling.... taking 2 for 11 off 4. Sarisbury's last wicket pair came together with 15 balls to go and in the penultimate over a diving catch from Al Taylor wrapped up a first win for Hythe over Sarisbury in over a decade.

All credit to the visitors though they played the game in a very good spirit and their colts were certainly impressive with the ball. It was also nice to see Bob Joyce down the ground as well. Many years Bob use to cause havoc playing against Hythe attempting to hit the Police Station.

Toss Won by : Sarisbury Ath.

Innings of : HYTHE 178 for 9 (39 Overs)

Innings of : SARISBURY ATH 85 All Out (36.3 Overs)

(L.Betreen 34, D.Hammond 7, D.Thomas 7)

Hythe Bowling