Bickley Park CC – 1st XI vs Sandwich Town CC – 1st XI

Report

We rounded off our 150th Anniversary Cricket Week by beating Sandwich Town, a win which made it mathematically certain that we will play in the Premier once again next year.  We lost two early wickets, but Alex Fullarton and Dan dug in and took us to 95 before Dan was bowled for 39.  Fullarton went on to 45 and Warren added a brisk 22, before Adeel – after an unusually cautious start – blasted 62 off 54 balls as we ended on 204 for 9.

In truth that total was a little below par, and when Sandwich were 105 for 3 midway through their innings they should have been comfortably in control.  But their Zimbabwean test player Reg Chakabva was already out, trapped lbw by Warren, and Jordan Cox soon followed lbw to Adeel.  At 159 for 6 the game seemed ours, but the next pair added 25 to put Sandwich back in command.  Warren took the seventh wicket thanks to a fine boundary catch by Adeel, and in his next over he made a run out off his own bowling to put Sandwich on 188 for 8.  Eight wickets became nine when warren took an even better boundary catch off Philip to send back the stubborn Gray, and Sandwich were down to their last pair.

That last pair scampered seven off six balls, but Warren put the game to bed by bowling the veteran Spanton with the second ball of the final over.  We had won by 9 runs, which simultaneously secured our Premier place and ended Sandwich’s faint hopes of the title.