Bexley CC 5th XI vs Bickley Park CC 3rd XI

Report

Bickley arrived at Bexley looking to regain momentum after last week’s abandoned match at OD CUACO. Having lost the toss, Bickley were asked to bat on what looked like a good track only to find themselves 0-2 inside the 2^nd over. A slow outfield made scoring tricky, and after Cooper was inexplicably bowled ducking a beamer, Hardy and O. Adamson led a brief recovery before departing in quick succession, leaving Bickley precariously poised at 54-6. This soon became 65-7, before Captain Fantastic and Abu put on 76 for the 8th wicket, mixing good running (yes, Abu ran! Without running anyone out!) with powerful hitting to decimate the confidence of the Bexley attack. Saika ended on 57* (10x 4s, 1x 6) to help Bickley to 178-9 off of their 40 overs and turn the game on its head.

Bickley were always confident that they could defend such a total, and a superb opening spell saw debutant B. Adamson take a wicket inside his first over to put early pressure on Bexley. Young opener Venugopolan batted very well for his 32, but ran out of partners as the wily duo of Saika and Davis reduced the opposition from 77-4 to 77-8: the veterans took 7 wickets between them. B. Adamson returned to the attack to claim the final wicket via a sharp catch in the slips and figures of 2-18 from his 8 overs. Bexley finished on 120 all out as Bickley took maximum points. Some good ground fielding kept the pressure on throughout, and more catches were held than than last week, although Barry would attest that the team’s throwing in over the stumps could use a little practice!

MOTM Saika (4-28, 57*) brought the night home in style, leaving BPCC at 1am having regaled the bar with tales of his heroics. Next week sees 1^st play 2^nd as Bickley take on the Roebucks.