Hastings beaten as England under-19s ace hits rapid ton

Harrison Ward blasted 123 off just 87 balls to help Preston Nomads earn a 147-run victory in the Sussex League Premier Division at Horntye Park yesterday (Saturday).

The brilliance of Ward helped Nomads post 305-6 from their 50 overs batting first, although it looked like being a good deal more than that while he was still at the crease.

See also: * Hastings relegated after losing remarkable game* Positive signs for Hastings in defeat to leaders* Hastings beaten by strong Horsham outfitWard came in with the score 13-1 after John Morgan had bowled Daniel Phillips for 11 off nine balls and immediately forged a second wicket partnership of 107 with Nathan Poole, who was caught behind by Joe Billings off Jack Coleman for 43.

The left-handed Ward was on 56 at that stage, but had motored on to 109 by the time Liam O’Brien was third man out with the score 184, caught by Greg Devlin off Elliot Hooper for 11.

Ward, who struck 20 fours and two sixes, finally departed 20 runs later when he was sharply stumped by Billings off Josh Beeslee.

Athough the damage had well and truly been done, Priory did pretty well to slow Nomads down during the remainder of the away innings.

Coleman bowled Stuart Faith for eight to make it 215-5, but William Wright and Kashif Ibrahim added 66 for the sixth wicket until the latter was bowled by Hooper for 23 off 43 balls.

Wright went on to reach his half-century, finishing on 51 not out from 63 balls as Nomads passed the 300 mark.

As for the Priory bowlers, Hooper finished with 2-52 from 10 overs, Coleman 2-60 from seven, Morgan 1-34 from five and Beeslee 1-49 from 10. Ryan Hoadley went for a respectable 40 runs from eight overs on his first league bowl of the season.

Priory were all out for 158 in 35.3 overs in reply, although Devlin and George Eldridge made their highest first XI scores for the club.

Things were going okay until 27-0 quickly became 32-3 and 54-4. Tom Gillespie (16) and Hooper (13) were the only members of Priory’s top five to reach double figures as Navin Patel, who has played first class cricket in New Zealand, and new ball partner Ward took two wickets each.

Priory rallied with a sixth wicket partnership of 66 between Devlin and Eldridge, the latter making a run-a-ball 34 with five fours and a six until being trapped leg before by Ibrahim.

The evergreen Ibrahim also claimed the next three wickets before Devlin, who scored a century for Priory’s second team the previous weekend, was last man out for 48 off 64 balls having struck seven fours and a six.

Ibrahim finished with 4-32 from eight overs, Patel 2-20 from five, Ward 2-30 from eight and Will Collard 1-45 from 9.3.

Sussex League Premier Division standings (all played 17 matches): 1 Roffey 415pts, 2 Eastbourne 380, 3 Preston Nomads 351, 4 Horsham 344, 5 East Grinstead 340, 6 Brighton & Hove 325, 7 Cuckfield 267, 8 Middleton 234, 9 HASTINGS PRIORY 166, 10 Ifield 139.

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