Shepherd Neame Kent Cricket League – week 12 review

Hartley continue their winning streak and retain their lead at the top of the table. They were invited to bat by their visitors Blackheath on Saturday and set off to a steady start in a match reduced to 35 overs a side.

Opener Nick Hendrie top scored with 74 and his partnership with James Hockley, 57, laid a good platform reaching 166-2 when Hendrie departed.

A quick-fire 32 from Jake Hutson from 18 balls took Hartley to a closing total of 222-6 at a decent run rate of 6.34. Blackheath's reply was disappointing for them. Jahid Ahmed was their top scorer with 33.

Their progress was not assisted by three run outs as they slid to just 99 all out to give Hartley a 123 run victory.

With the demise of Blackheath and a rest day for Sevenoaks Vine and Tunbridge Wells due to the Tunbridge Wells Cricket Festival, Beckenham seized the opportunity to hop back to second place in the table by heavily defeating Sandwich Town, making up for their disappointing loss in the first half of the season.

Beckenham are 14 points behind Hartley with six games to play. Sandwich won the toss and elected to bat at the Butts but were soon in deep trouble at 14-5 as the Beckenham seamers tore through their top order. They were never to really recover from this start and despite 26 from Ben Chapman, Sandwich were bowled out for just 75 in the 28th over.

Will MacVicar had the best figures for Beckenham with 4-10. With the two regular openers missing for Beckenham, skipper Johan Malcolm took on the role and his unbeaten 47 helped Beckenham home comfortably for the loss of just one wicket.

Folkestone's woes continued as they suffered another loss, this time by 22 runs at the hands of Bromley at Cheriton Road. The decision to invite Bromley to bat first looked to have paid dividends as Folkestone grabbed four early wickets with three for Sam Ireland, but at this point Freddie Wilson joined Sean Griffin in the middle and began to build a steady partnership.

Griffin made 62 and Wilson 42 but with their dismissals Bromley could only reach 201 at the close of their innings. Hugh Bernard and Sam Ireland both ended with three wickets each. Folkestone battled hard but although Himanshu Waingankar scored 38 and Leon Morgan 33, runs were not coming easily.

Nathan Hill's figures of 5-36 proved decisive as Folkestone were bowled out for 179 in the final over of the match. A valuable win for Bromley taking them 38 points away from the relation zone. Only two points separate Folkestone in 10th place from Sandwich above them and both now seem to have a steep climb to retain their Premier places in 2016.

The two mid-table sides Bexley and Lordswood clashed at Martyn Grove, Lordswood and it was the home side that emerged comfortable winners by 88 runs. Lordswood, strengthened by recent Kent signing Sean Dickson elected to bat.

Dickson settled straight into his stride scoring 76 and his second-wicket partnership of 106 with Greg Smith set the home side a strong foundation.

Dickson made 76, Smith 57 which followed by a further 57 by Chris Piesley launched Lordswood to 248-6 in a match reduced to 90 overs. Bexley never looked like threating in their chase as wickets fell at regular intervals with no batsmen able to dominate or establish themselves.

George Wells top scored with 34 as Bexley slipped to 160 all out in the 34th over. The wickets were shared around the six Lordswood bowlers used and who dominated in the 88 run victory.

WEEK 12 RESULTS – 25 JULY 2015

Folkestone 179-9 lost to Bromley 201-10 by 22 runs

Hartley 222-6 beat Blackheath 99-10 by 123 runs

Lordswood 248-6 beat Bexley 160-10 by 88 runs

Sandwich Town 75-10 lost to Beckenham 76-1 by 9 wickets