Shepherd Neame Kent Cricket League – week 14 review

Hartley made great strides toward the Premier title and realistically all but ended Sevenoaks Vine's hopes of retaining the trophy as they beat the Sevenoaks side comfortably by 7 wickets at Culvey Close, writes Errol Valentine.

Hartley invited their visitors to bat and soon Andy Tutt and Dan Redwood were right on top of the batsmen as Sevenoaks Vine slid to 63-6 with Tutt and Redwood taking two apiece.

The Vines cause was not assisted by two early run outs. Karl Pearson with an unbeaten 40 and Tom Coldman 20 offered some resistance towards the end. James Thompson took 3-14 and the final Vine total of 165 never looked like a winning score.

And so it was to prove as David Thompson dug in for 35, followed by a breezy 43 from James Hockley and 28 by James Thompson saw Hartley cruise home in the 32nd over and a winning margin of seven wickets.

Beckenham did all they could to stay in touch with the leaders by defeating Folkestone by 4 wickets at Cheriton Lane but in reality must beat Hartley at Foxgrove Road next Saturday to remain in contention. Mathematically, if Hartley win on Saturday the title is almost theirs barring three disastrous results on the trot thereafter.

The run festival of the day was at Folkestone when Beckenham pulled off a fine run chase to beat the home side by 4 wickets. Folkestone elected to bat and led by Ben Harmison began with a 105 opening partnership when Harmison departed for 62.

His partner Leon Morgan went on to a more patient 54 and Himanshu Waingankar made 62 as Folkestone built to a sizeable 253-9 at the close.

Johan Malcolm with 3-40 was perhaps the pick of the Beckenham bowling. When skipper Malcolm departed for 33 with the total on 67, the game was nicely in the balance.

There then followed a match winning partnership of 146 between Alex Senn and Will MacVicar with Senn departing for 88 and the score now on 212-2.

MacVicar continued his innings to an excellent run a ball 98 and he was last to go for Beckenham, with just nine needed. Beckenham crossed the line with exactly an over to spare. Mathematically Folkestone could still stay up but sadly for them, it looks like Division 1 beckons for 2016.

Blackheath, 30 points behind Hartley in third place, did everything they could to stay in touch with what now seems only an outside chance on the title by defeating Tunbridge wells by 32 runs at the Nevill.

The home side invited Blackheath to bat first and their progress was steady throughout. Richard Fleming top scored with 60 and Warren Lee added a useful 54 as Blackheath meandered their way to 226-8 from their 50.

Tunbridge Wells looked well set to chase at 59 without loss when James Hands and Dipyan Paul with two apiece quickly reduced them to 79-5 as a middle order collapse ensured.

Despite 45 by James Madgwick and 33 by David Smith, the home side never fully recovered from their collapse and were bowled out for 194 with just over five overs remaining and 33 runs short of their target, Tanweer Sikander wrapping up proceedings ending with 3-14.

At Plaistow Lane, Bromley, Bexley bagged maximum points as they defeated Bromley by 70 runs. Bromley elected to field and reduced Bexley to 64-4 when George Haley joined Adeel Malik in the middle.

The pair batted sensibly adding 130 for the fifth wicket, Malik scoring 89 and Haley 44. This set a platform for Bexley to reach 249 when their final wicket fell, Richard Selvey-Clinton and Scott Barlow taking three wickets each.

Despite a patient 57 by opener Callum Basey and 52 from Shavawn Cunningham, the Bromley batting did not fire with Mark Cryer taking 3-35 and Adam Riley 3-38 and their innings closed with the score on just 179-8.

Sandwich closed the gap to Bromley in 8th place to 25 points by earning a much needed win at Lordswood. The home side were invited to bat by Sandwich Town and their innings was firmly built around the only centurion of the day, Linden Lockhart whose 104 supported by 45 from Amjad Khan enabled Lordswood to reach 242-8 at the break.

The ever reliable Lordswood bowling was perhaps not at its best on the day, taking nothing away from Sandwich, as a second wicket partnership of 117 between Alex Smith 86 and 62 by Robert Goatham set Sandwich a decent platform.

The middle order all chipped in, and assisted by 30 extras, the third highest scorer, Sandwich got home seven down in the 49th over. Sandwich Town still now have a lot to do to avoid relegation and rely on Bromley to have a few disasters for them to have any chance of staying up.

SHEPHERD NEAME KENT CRICKET LEAGUE

PREMIER LEAGUE,WEEK 14 – 8 AUGUST 2015

Bromley 179-8 lost to Bexley 249-10 by 70 runs

Folkestone 253-9 lost to Beckenham 254-6 by 4 wickets

Hartley 171-3 beat Sevenoaks Vine 165-10 by 7 wickets

Lordswood 242-8 lost to Sandwich Town 243-7 by 3 wickets

Tunbridge Wells 194-10 lost to Blackheath 226-8 by 32 runs