2nd XI vs Bromley Common

The 2’s headed to newly promoted Bromley Common last Saturday, looking to make it three wins in a row.

Having lost the toss and been asked to bat first, the opening pair of White and Corke got the innings off to a flier, hammering any loose deliveries to the boundary. The score rattled along to 79 in the 14th over when Jason was dismissed chasing a wide one (apparently it was a similar story in Ashes later on….). Corkey then fell in the next over and soon a collapse had started as before we knew it the run rate had stalled and we were 122-6. However, it was clear that spin would play a big factor in the game as the wicket wasn’t as flat as first suspected. A partnership of 41 between Dan Mason and Captain Waters steadied things and at this point Mason began to play his shots as he made a very good 51 until he was dismissed in the 3rd to last over. This left us 9 down with another 11 runs needed to make 200 and reach the 4th batting point. At the start of the last over this looked unlikely as 6 were needed. However Paul Usher gloved an audacious switch-hit for 1 to bring Chris Bell on strike and promptly played a majestic reverse sweep for 4 to take us to 200 – the innings eventually finishing on 202-9 – which seemed a decent enough score, however was short of where we should have got to having been 79 for no loss.

The bowling effort started well, taking a wicket in the 3rd over, Chris Bell taking a fantastic one handed catch at slip off the bowling of Laurence Waters. The score raced to 40-1 until the introduction of Chris Bell. The home side decided to hit out – but they got out, collapsing to 63-6, with Belly taking 5 wickets in an excellent spell of bowling. The Bromley Common lower order had some former 1st XI cricketers in the ranks and their batting prowess shone through. The Walker brothers batted sensibly and with controlled aggression to take the score to 113-7 when Jamie Walker holed out to a good catch by DT from Jared’s bowling. The core reached 145 when Felts took the next wicket but Bromley Common never gave up. They blocked and then hit out, but another change of bowling saw Jared take a 2nd wicket to leave the opposition on 165-9 but with lots of overs left. The number 11 didn’t look like he would last long however he held up an end whilst Matt Walker scored the runs, targeting the short straight boundaries.

The 48th over started with Bromley Common needing 17 to win. Chris Bell started his final over – dot ball to begin with and then Walker hit the 2nd ball high down the ground to the scorebox end, with Felts hovering beneath the ball, a matter of feet inside the rope. The whole team held their breath an Felts came in, then retreated ready to take the winning catch – only for us to see him miss the ball completely and land in the 1ft gap between him and the rope and go for 4! Initially this was signalled as going for 6 and after much deliberation and arguing, the decision was correctly made. 3rd ball and again Walker aimed down the ground but didn’t connect as well this time – the ball headed in the air to long-off, where a panic-stricken Paul Usher lay in wait. Fingers were crossed, prayers were made and thankfully Pusher clung on to seal a fantastic victory by 12 runs and secure another 20 points.

Another good team effort, with various people performing well. Dan Mason got the team out of trouble with a great 50 but the undoubted start was Chris Bell, who finished with figures of 6-34.

Next week the 2’s head to Linden Park.