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JOHNNY CASHING IN
View From Silly Point by Jamie (Mitch) Mitchell
The rain-induced hiatus didn't appear to rein in any of Pompey 2s' early season momentum, as the Hampshire League Div 2 leaders comfortably saw off Fair Oak 2s by 123 runs, at St Helens.
Sunshine, blue skies, and a remarkably dry deck influenced home skipper Nicky Wyatt to bat first upon winning the flip.
And it was Wyatt who monopolised the early scoring, with stroke play as subtle as a Sparsholt CC highlights package, rattling along to 20 before opening partner, Jamie Mitchell, had barely scratched out his guard.
Mitchell eventually started to get in on the run-glut, and the familiar pair combined for 114 in the first 15 overs, with Wyatt passing 50 in the process.
However, after the first drinks break, Pompey's Putin got a little too greedy on 52, holing out at cow corner. Meanwhile Mitchell, after a few beers and a spicy naga lamb the night before, continued to feast on a visiting attack that was more comfortable to digest, riding the occasional slice of luck to bring up his hundred - the last time Mitchell managed such a feat "Blurred Lines" was the No.1 single, and the yet-to-be-sir Andy Murray was in the early rounds of his journey towards a first Wimbledon title.
Matt Chapman came in, and clubbed it like Laing for a 39 that upped the run rate, and royally entertained the masses until he was dismissed in the final over of the innings - as did Mitchell for a 112 that was every bit as ostentatious as these match reports.
Both sides sat down for a well-earned bit of scran, with the hosts posting 264 for 8.
It almost seemed unfair that Pompey were able to unleash hell - in the form of Jed Whitecross and Joe Kooner-Evans - upon the Fair Oak top order.
Kooner-Evans repeatedly beat the bat, and made runs difficult to come by, despite some of Pompey's fielders moving as freely as extras from The Walking Dead (Mitchell, Wyatt, Simon Jones, I'm looking at you), while a couple of smart catches behind the stumps from Martin Ballard-Collins handed Whitecross the early scalps, to take 2 for 25 in his opening burst.
The middle overs belonged to Oscar Davis, as he played Plunkett in taking 3 for 17 off 5, to expose the visiting tail. Cue the Trigger Twins, Paul Hungerford (3 for 14 off 6) and the returning Kooner-Evans (2 for 15 off 8.1), both looking after their brooms in sweeping up the Fair Oak innings for 141, to seal a performance that was as one-sided as a bar room debate between Messrs Wyatt and McCardle.
Our heroes are back on the road this Saturday, for the relatively short trip to Sarisbury 2s.
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