Hampshire Cricket League: Sway beat Brockenhurst by seven wickets

HCL Division Five
Sway CC III 202-3
Brockenhurst CC 198-5

SWAY thirds opened their season with a seven-wicket win over New Forest rivals Brockenhurst, thanks largely to Niall Gallagher's 65 runs.

Brockenhurst won the toss and elected to bat, and the opening salvos resulted in somewhat of a stalemate with Sway debutant Ollie Melling and Arnie Badami's bowling limiting the visitors.

Opener Andrew Broad retired hurt, bringing in his son, hard-hitting left-hander Nick Broad. His introduction disrupted the Sway bowling, and the run rate ticked over nicely. However, Melling made a crucial breakthrough when he had Micky Williams (10) caught by Clive Smith.

Skipper Dave Marshall picked up the wicket of Thomas Greenwood before Jake Olney had the dangerous Neil Harvey (35) caught by Will Baughan behind the stumps. Clive Smith then received a fair bit of punishment in his two overs, but he did take Mark Bisping's wicket.

Brockenhurst looked like hitting a massive score, but Melling (8-2-40-1) returned for some stingy overs. Then, in the final over, Olney had Broad caught in the deep for 91 after another great catch by Lewis before closing out for just two runs as Brock finished on 198-5.

Sway opened their reply with Casper Todd (30) and Olly Marshall (37). The pair did a great job seeing off the Brock opening bowlers, sharing a 65-run opening partnership. By the time the duo departed, Sway were in a strong position, needing 100 runs at a rate of six and over.

Baughan hit a fine unbeaten 39 off 33 balls, but the star of the show was Gallagher, who hit seven fours and four sixes in an unbeaten 65 as Sway crossed the line with eight overs to spare.