Freddie stars as U17s romp to final victory
Gadd takes three wickets in his first five balls as Havant lift trophy
Left-arm spinner Freddie Gadd took three wickets with his opening five deliveries to set up a crushing victory for Havant over Hook & Newnham Basics in the Hampshire Under-17 Kerry Cup final at May’s Bounty, Basingstoke.
It triggered a disastrous start by the North Hampshire side, who had lost six wickets with only eight runs on the board by the end of the seventh over – left-armer Alfie Taw (3-8) and Gadd, with man-of-the-match figures of 4-6, slicing through the Hook top order.
Hook sank into deeper trouble at 21-8 before Alex Campbell (27) and Piers Armstrong lifted the score to 58 all out, leg spinner Matty Hayward (2-13) dismissing both batsmen to end the innings.
It took Havant little more than ten overs to complete the formalities, left-hand opener and captain Ollie Perkins hitting an unbeaten 38 to guide his side to a ninewicket win.
It was Gadd’s third fourwicket haul in his last four appearances for Havant, and his fourth of the summer in all cricket.
Playing for the 1st XI, he had previously taken 4-15 in a Southern Premier League Premier/Division 1 East cup group win over Rowledge and 4-14 in a SPL T20 Cup success against Sparsholt.
Back in July, Gadd had taken 4-15 while playing for Hampshire’s Academy against Dorset U17s.
Simon Jones produced a remarkable innings as Portsmouth 3rds defeated Railway Triangle 2nds to leap into top spot in Regional P of the Hampshire District League.
The Hampshire Cricket Board’s cricket development manager entered the game having scored 96 and 49 in his previous two innings in the league.
This time he struck 68 out of a team total of 120-9 off 40 overs.
The other 10 batsmen only managed 31 runs between them, with 21 extras boosting the tally into three figures. Triangle opener Alex Harris returned 2-8 off eight overs, while Rodney Watson took 3-7 off three overs. Tom Newman dominated Triangle’s reply in the same vein that Jones had dominated Portsmouth’s innings. Newman hit 40 as his side were dismissed for 77.
The other members of the
Freddie Gadd’s four wickets helped Havant U17s to final success five top six only managed five runs between them, while No 10 Watson (13) was the only other batsman to manage more than four before he was dismissed by Emily Mackenzie.
Opening bowler George Mackenzie had taken 3-9 off six overs, while Andy Chapman picked up 2-2 in four overs.
In the same division, Bedhampton 2nds couldn’t raise a side to face Kerala 2nds.