Canterbury end long wait
Premier Division Division 4
Canterbury ended their eightgame losing streak in Division 1 as they beat HSBC by nine wickets.
Having elected to bat, HSBC collapsed to 75 all out after just two batters reached double figures.
The visitors lost just one wicket in reply, needing only 11.4 overs to seal the win at 77-1.
HSBC found themselves 0-1 when Sadiq Hassan was caught by Joe Gordon off Justin MacVicar, who picked up 3-25. Richard Golbourn was then dismissed by Jemuel Cabey, who took 3-19, and Sam Perks’ departure made it 18-3.
Nine single-digit scores eventually left HSBC on 75 all out, George Hutton top scoring on 17.
Canterbury’s response got off to a rocky start when Bradley Goldsack went for a golden duck. An early setback was followed by an unbeaten partnership from MacVicar (36 not out) and Ben Rutherford (37 not out) as the pair cruised to 77-1.
Sandwich were beaten by 122 runs as they hosted Tunbridge Wells.
After winning the toss, Wells skipper Chris Williams produced an opening-wicket stand of 56 with Marcus O’Riordan, reaching 44 by the time his partner was removed.
Williams enjoyed a 58-run partnership with Christian Davis (25), who was bowled by Alex Smith to leave them 114-2.
Matt Van Poppel was the man to dismiss Williams for 91, before claiming the wickets of both Alexander Williams and Julian O’Riordan to leave Wells at 164-5. Van Poppel struck again on his way to 4-45, sending Sam Stickler back for 47. Aristides Karvelas added an unbeaten 47 from 18 deliveries, including six sixes, to take Tunbridge to 254-7. Having proven valuable with the bat, Karvelas starred with the ball with two wickets during his opening over to leave Sandwich on 0-2.
Skipper Cameron Fletcher (32) joined forces with Finley Beaman (17) in a stand of 53, only for Wells to take control with three wickets for nine runs, two of which went to Ian Mclean. The two Smiths, 40 from Alex and 18 from Rory, put on 57 for the sixth wicket, only for Sandwich to see five wickets fall for 13 runs as they were bowled out for 132.
Lordswood beat Sevenoaks by four wickets after a 95-minute delay at the start saw the game reduced to 45 overs per side. Invited to bat first, Sevenoaks made a steady start to reach 91-3 thanks to Adam Rouse’s 35 from 34 deliveries.
Luke Schlemmer (97 not out) and Miles Richardson (71) then produced a 147-run partnership to take Sevenoaks to 238-4 when the latter was caught by Linden Lockhart off Chris Piesley.
The visitors managed just 15 more runs as they closed on 253-5. Lordswood responded strongly through an opening stand worth 94 from Edward Taylor (71) and Lockhart (36) before the latter was caught by Richardson off Karl Pearson.
Michael French and Taylor both departed with their side on 123, followed by Jack Laraman three runs later.
Chris Piesley (87 not out) and James Anyon (20) fought back with a 77-run partnership to help Lordswood towards a winning score of 256-6.
Blackheath recorded a muchneeded five-wicket victory over Bickley Park after chasing down 118 to win.
Park found themselves 10-2 after losing openers Warren Lee and William Holcombe cheaply. A slow start saw 24-3 turn into 40-5, until Michael Ridley (25) and Mick King (27 not out) provided 54 between them.
Ridley eventually went to Tanweer Sikandar (3-20), with Bickley on 117-9 in their 30 overs. Rishi Roy-Mukherjee (38) and Dipayan Paul (17) opened with 51 between them, followed by a useful 18 from Mohammad Ashraful.
Blackheath also benefited from 22 in extras to earn the win on 118-5 with six balls to spare. The top-of-the-table clash between first-placed Bexley and second-placed Beckenham was abandoned due to rain. Kings Hill are the new leaders of a fiercely contested Division 4. Half-centuries from Mohammed Cowdhury and Ross Allen helped them towards an 81-run victory over Bapchild.
The match was reduced to 40 overs because of the weather and Kings Hill didn’t have a great start to their innings when opener Jack Raffles went for a duck.
But the second-wicket pairing of Cowdhury (50) and Allen (50) was backed up by Shaun McMurray (26) and Majid Sialvi (37).
Kings Hill were left defending 202-6 which they did comfortably.
Bapchild, who are sitting second bottom in the table, only had three batsmen making double figures. Openers Matt Lewis (20) and Lee Taylor (37) showed early promise but Christopher Knope (28) was the only other man showing any real resistance. Bapchild were bowled out for 121.
Frindsbury had led the division before the weekend but had played a game more. All of the teams have now played 11 and the Medway side, not in action on Saturday, dropped to third. Just seven points separate the top three and moving back up into second spot were Staplehurst, following their six-wicket win over Addington Village.
Addington were put into bat and lost both openers to Tom Henson.
Robin Dooley, batting at three, hit 58 before being run out and Thomas Wooding added 47.
An additional 31 extras helped them to 187 all out. Tom Davey returned 3-33 to help bowl out Addington and then starred with the bat, top scoring with 86 as the chase was completed in the 33rd over.
Henson was also able to demonstrate his all-round qualities by contributing 45 with the bat, having earlier taken some key wickets.
High Halstow suffered a 37-run defeat to Old Colfeians.
Adam Whatman (4-39) and Jamie Kingsbrook (3-18) took wickets regularly but an unbeaten 52 from Peter Tarrant helped Colfeians to 167.
Adam Whatham (45), batting at seven, was High Halstow’s leading run scorer but they could only manage 130 all out in reply.
Walmer were unable to get the win they needed, chasing 165-9 against Downham & Bellingham at Hull Park. Stuart Milroy took 4-21 for Walmer but they ended up 18 runs short of the target, all out for 149. Top scorer for Walmer was Andy Furness (37).