Match report: Sway CC (278-7) defeated Fawley CC (205 all out) in Southern Premier Cricket League (SPCL) Division Two season opener

Sway made the perfect start to the season while dispatching Fawley by 73 runs at The Arbormac Cricket Ground on Saturday.

Visitors Sway (278-7) won their first SPCL Division Two match of the season after beating Fawley (205 all out), who secured promotion last season.

The hosts won the toss, and captain Callum Earl showed no hesitation in asking Sway to bat first.

Tim Noble added a valuable 13 runs before Raminder Singh (2-48) caught him LBW. That brought Matt Young (31) and Will Crossley (32) together, with the second-wicket pairing hitting a free-flowing 96-run stand.

Daniel Newcombe (2-40) delivered the balls that ended both their involvements, with Young clean-bowled and Crossley caught by Mohammad Saif-Ul Islam.

Sway was far from done, with Alex Hall firing off an impressive 54 off 75 balls and top-scorer Thor Harradine 64 runs off 58 balls, combining to provide the backbone of Sway’s total of 278-7.

Saif-Ul Islam (1-46) and Bailey Parratt (1-48) were Fawley’s other wicket-takers.

Despite Parratt’s 51 runs and Kieran Earl’s 37, Fawley could not keep up with the required run rate once change seamer Richard Thomas (3-23) had struck with three wickets for the cost of no runs in three overs.

Sway’s ground fielding held Fawley in check, with Tom Burton excelling behind the stumps with three outstanding catches. He caught Singh (30), Saif-Ul Islam (23), and Earl (28), who were the only other Fawley batsmen to hit more than four runs.

Left-armer Jon Grasham’s invaluable contribution was 3-32, while Harradine (2-61), Jon Waller (1-16) and David Steadman (1-16) were the other wicket-takers.

Sway are away from home on Saturday when they take on Trojans at 12.30pm.