Kentish Express Ashford & District
Kings Hill move one step closer
A tale of two centurions DUO MAKE UNBEATEN TONS Division 5 Division 4
There were two centurions as Offham visited Betteshanger Colliery Welfare on Saturday.
Ian Juniper carried his bat for the home side, making 107 not out in a total of 211-7, but he finished on the losing side.
Ben Gittings raced to an unbeaten 100 for visitors Offham, facing just 87 balls and hitting 15 boundaries while Sunil Landa made a patient 59.
Offham won by eight wickets, leaving Betteshanger on the verge of relegation with two games left.
Hartley took a step closer to safety with a nervy win at home to Rodmersham.
Lee Taylor top-scored with 86 as the visitors scored 241 all out so credit to Hartley for chasing that down.
Captain Richard Nicol scored 58 but it was a quickfire 37 not out from Ainsley Dummer which decided the match.
Hartley looked dead and buried at 212-9 but Dummer blasted five sixes to swing the contest their way.
The home side won by one wicket with just three balls to spare and this result leaves them 27 points above the drop zone.
Bromley Town sealed promotion with a hard-fought victory at Littlebourne.
They posted 215-8 in their 50 overs, Yuveel Rughoonandan top- scoring with 34 not out while Jack Parr picked up 4-21 for Littlebourne.
The home side made a good start to their run-chase with Sully Gould and Byron Gould both making 51 but then Bromley fought back.
Bhushan Khandve led the charge with 5-34 and Littlebourne were all out for 207 in the 41st over.
Town need just one more point to be crowned champions, with The Roebucks 35 points back in second. They, in turn, are just five points ahead of Littlebourne so it’s going to be quite a battle for the runners-up spot.
The Roebucks chased down 239 to beat Chislehurst & West Kent by six wickets.
Bexley 3rds thrashed Faversham by 197 runs in the day’s other game.
Dan Bygrave ( 67) helped Bexley to 327-9 and Faversham were dismissed for 130 with George Lush (3-19) and Darshit Mashar (3-21) doing most of the damage. Kings Hill are one win away from promotion after beating Frindsbury in the top of the table clash.
With two games left, Kings Hill have opened up a 20-point gap between themselves and their beaten weekend opponents, in second.
They have a 27-point cushion ahead of third-placed Staplehurst, who are now right back in the hunt after Frindsbury’s loss.
Kings Hill won Saturday’s encounter at Frogs Island by five wickets after chasing down 175-9. They got home with plenty to spare, winning in the 43rd over.
Staplehurst, in third, picked up maximum points and are now just seven adrift of the second promotion spot.
They beat High Halstow by 73 runs. After being asked to bat, Staplehurst posted 292-8 and then skittled their opponents out for 219, taking the final wicket in the last over.
Walmer, meanwhile, moved further away from danger towards in the battle to avoid the drop, beating Addington Village by seven wickets. Batting first, the villagers posted 197-9.
Their leading run scorer was Tom Grinstead (67 not out) while Stuart Milroy took four of the wickets.
Walmer knocked the runs off in 45.5 overs to leave Addington in trouble, sitting second bottom. Bapchild remain rooted to the foot of the table and they suffered a 19-run defeat against Old Colfeians.
The Old Boys were bowled out for 179, Owen Harrison (2-23) dismissing both openers while Tyler Wassell picked up 3-32. Bapchild’s top order struggled in the face of Colfeians’ opening bowling attack with Alex Lorimer (4-14) and Satchi Mahendran – who had been their leading run scorer with 45 – claiming 3-32.
William Cosstick (37) made a game of it, batting lower down the order, but Colfeians’ total was just beyond the Swale side. Rainham enjoyed a fivewicket win over Downham & Bellingham in a mid-table battle.
Downham posted 200-9 and Rainham completed the chase in 45.4 overs.
Openers Michael Tyrer (22) and James Austin (23) made a steady start to the reply before Oliver Lea came in and produced a match-winning 81 not out.
Neil McCue (24 not out) and Goerge Mottram (15) also provided vital runs in the middle order.