Robbie Eason en route to his century [Rob Judges]
Horspath 236-4, Wembdon 160 – Horspath won by 76 runs
Robbie Eason and Max Smith shared an exhilarating unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 171 to set Horspath on the way to a sparkling 76-run victory at home to Wembdon in the Voneus Village Cup fifth round, writes Russell Smith.
Opener Eason made a well-paced unbeaten 102 while Smith slammed 80 not out to take the Oxfordshire champions to 236 for 4 off 40 overs after they were put in to bat. Roared on by a crowd of around 300 at the Recreation Ground, the hosts then dismissed the Somerset & Avon group winners for 160.
Horspath’s reward is a 492-mile round trip to Grampound Road (Cornwall) in round six on July 2.
Eason and Smith came together with Horspath precariously placed at 65 for 4 in the 18th over and gradually turned the innings round before unleashing a dazzling display of shots to post a challenging total.
Eason, who had survived a straightforward chance to mid-off when he’d made three, reached his half-century with a six to the midwicket boundary with Harry Everett juggling the ball as it went over the rope, before Smith brought up his fifty with a flashing cover drive.
Eason was on 91 going into the last over and he slapped the third delivery onto the scout hut roof for six, before bringing up his century in majestic fashion by cracking the next ball through extra cover for four.
The pair plundered 107 runs off the last 10 overs, with Eason hitting 12 fours and two sixes in his 121-ball knock. Smith’s runs came off just 63 deliveries, with 12 fours and a six.
With a forecast of thundery showers, the aim of being up with the run rate from 20 overs – the stage of an innings which enables a result – was clearly at the back of the visitors’ minds as they went for their shots.
However, they came up against a superb Horspath display in the field with the bowlers supported by some excellent catches.
Wembdon had reached 21 for 0 after four overs when Smith ran out Everett with a brilliant direct hit, and two balls later skipper Will Eason (2 for 38) bowled Harry Love to spark further Horspath celebrations.
Wembdon captain Jonathan Brockwell came to the crease at 64 for 4 and kept his side’s hopes alive with an awesome display of hitting. He cleared the ropes twice en route to an excellent half-century, but with light rain falling as 20 overs were completed, Wembdon were behind the run rate at 107 for 5.
Brockwell crashed another maximum over long-on, before his valiant knock came to an end when he was bowled by Subhan Javaid for 60 off 38 balls with seven fours and three sixes to make it 139 for 8.
With Wembdon trading sixes for wickets, Jimmy Phillips pulled off an amazing one-handed catch above his head on the long-off boundary to dismiss Jack Lowe off Josh Richardson (2 for 15).
Horspath’s victory was complete when Stephen Green caught Pigden on the mid-wicket boundary off Amin Rafiq (3 for 32) to leave the visitors all out off 31.1 overs.
We would like to thank our sponsors BOLA for their support of our Voneus Village Cup coverage. To find out more click here.
