02/08/2026
A very, very special day yesterday saw Highnam win two absolute thrillers within an hour of each other, as each team did their best to outdo the other in winning from an almost impossible situation!
The 2nd XI in fifth place hosted fourth placed Alvington & Woolaston, and got off to a flying start with the ball before strong lower order batting plus a mad final over saw Alvington recover from 102-6 and 142-8 to end on 198-8.
That would mean the 2s achieving their highest run chase in nearly 20 years, and when we slipped to 82-6, all hope was gone.
Enter Tim Gordon and Ajay Jobel. Tim batted sensibly whilst Ajay went after any oppportunity he could to score, and a blistering partnership of 71 in barely ten overs hauled us back into the game.
When Tim fell, followed quickly by another wicket, we still needed 43 with just two wickets left.
Hardly two overs later, the game was over. But not as you’d expect it! Ajay hit two sixes as 15 came from over 28, before five fours in over 29. Four byes to start the next over sealed it, with more than 10 overs to spare as we recovered from 82-6 to make 199-8 and win an absolute epic of a game, Ajay ending with his first fifty and 73*, having earlier taken 8-4-19-1.
Not to be bested, the 1st XI were in the midst of a run chase of their own at third-placed Penallt & Redbrook, needing 204 to win and move to the brink of promotion.
Jason Mosley scored an epic ton as the 1s rocketed to 149-3, before a collapse of 4 for 20 left us reeling and Penallt on the brink of victory at 169-7, Jason departing for exactly 100 off of just 71 balls.
There were still 13 overs to go with 35 needed, but Penallt’s leading bowlers were ripping through the middle order, looking to repeat their comeback of two weeks earlier.
Mike Webb and George Headington remained composed and inched us nearer the finish line, before a quality piece of fielding ran Mike out for 11, and we were still 19 short with young Freddie Warren joining his captain in the middle.
Sharp running and the odd boundary in the face of excellent bowling and brilliant fielding made for an absolutely gripping finale, as George got to 16 and Freddie 7 with five needed from the final three overs.
Each survived beauties which somehow evaded the stumps and we sneaked a few more runs, tying the scores heading into the final over.
But the drama wasn’t over yet! Looking to hit the winning run, George could only hit it back to the bowler and Highnam were nine down with the scores level.
Club legend Pete Whyard calmly finished the job. He whacked his first ball over point and completed the run, and Highnam 1s had dragged themselves over the line by 1 wicket in the final over, barely 45 minutes after Highnam 2s had themselves charged to victory by two wickets!
With four weeks to go, the 1st XI are one win away from promotion to Division 6 for the first time in 15 years, whilst the 2nd XI are a handful of points away from fourth place and a record breaking best ever season.
Both A&W and P&R need to be highly commended for their conduct in the games. Both matches were played in a superb spirit, very sportingly, and despite the tenseness of each match going to the wire, there was the opportunity to joke, laugh and congratulate opponents on their work. That is what village cricket is all about and it was a pleasure to share the field with each of those teams on a crazy day.
Our 50th anniversary season continues to deliver in a special year for the club, with one month to go. 💚💛
