Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Appleby smashes ton as Whitstable plunder 400
Kent League
Teenager Kai Appleby scored 156 to set up a 172-run win for Whitstable over HSBC in Division 1.
Appleby led the way as Whitstable posted their biggest total of the season – 421-8 from their 55 overs.
A total of 23 sixes were hit in their innings and the tone was set when just the second ball of the game cleared the boundary rope.
After electing to bat first, Whitstable found themselves in trouble at 43-3 but they recovered well to post an intimidating target.
Strong support arrived from the tailenders as well, with Piers Richardson scoring 56 from just 18 balls, smashing seven sixes in the process.
Whitstable captain Buzz Gould praised the performance of youngster Appleby: “It was an exceptional knock. It was one of the best knocks I’ve seen from a 17-year-old.
“It was just a joy to sit there and watch. He has got the talent and has had it for a while.”
The skipper was also pleased with Richardson’s knock: “Piers was exceptional and he got into the bowlers straight away. He showed pure power and hit big sixes.”
Whitstable sit second in the table as the halfway stage of the season approaches.
And Gould is confident that his side can continue to go from strength to strength.
He added: “I’m looking forward to the last game of the 55 over format as we think we’re stronger in the 50 over game.”
St Lawrence & Highland Court came out on top in a home thriller against mid-table Nonington in Division 2.
Saints, chasing Nonington’s 201, were down to their last wicket with only a few runs needed when controversy struck.
Will Hilton, St Lawrence captain, said: “They bowled an over-waist height ball, which was then caught. Nonington celebrated thinking they’d got us all out and won, but the ball was judged to be a no ball, we ran the runs and won the game.”
James Widerstrom’s performance (80 not out) aside, the visitors’ hopes were hit by Saints bowler Armand Erasmus, who se figures of 6-57 took his season’s tally of wickets to 32.
St Lawrence took 45.1 overs to reach 202 as Nonington, and more precisely Louis GlynnWilliams (4-37), made life difficult for the home side’s batsmen, with Jamie Vant-Harrison (62) and Matthew Hammond (33) the top scorers.
St Lawrence remain top of Division 2 with 128 points.
Canterbury’s impressive opening partnership helped the club record an easy win over Bromley Common. Max Campbell (80) and Justin Macvicar (127) put on 179 as Canterbury declared at 305- 6 after 54 overs.
With Bromley needing 306 to win, Ryan Minter (4-39) and Stuart Drakeley (3-37) ensured the home team never posed a threat as Canterbury bowled them all out for 137.
The win leaves Canterbury mid-table with 86 points in Division 1, 14 points above the relegation zone, as Bromley remain bottom with 66 points.
In Division 3, Chestfield lost away to OD CUACO by six wickets despite a half-century from Dylan Hunter.
Hunter (67) top-scored for Chestfield in their total of 199.
But the hosts reached their victory target in 42.5 overs as Hunter (3-43) also ended up as his team’s top wicket-taker.
In Division 4, 10-man Faversham went down by 87 runs at Catford Wanderers, whose total of 279-7 was built around opener Remi Chea’s 52, plus late-order contributions from Nathan Edwards (49) and Raza Saleem (44).
James Jarrett took 3-59 and then added some respectability to Faversham’s reply, with an unbeaten 30 batting at No.10. Chris Streatfield, an No.8, made 33.
In 2nd XI action, Canterbury are still waiting for their first win of the season when batting first, after Bexley narrowly edged to victory by two wickets.
Having won the toss and opted to bat, Canterbury made 220-9 from their 50 overs with Ben Line (85) top-scoring.
Bexley were close to throwing the game away after they collapsed from 208-4 to 220-8 but they scored the winning run in the last over.
Jordi Van Kemenade scored 65 as Whitstable beat Tunbridge Wells by five wickets in the Premier Division.
Max Rutherford (3-29) and Stuart Clements (3-62) were among the wickets as Wells were restricted to 198-6 after 50 overs.
Van Kemenade top-scored in the reply to wrap up the victory with more than seven overs to spare.
Chestfield have moved out of the Division 3 relegation places following their six-wicket success at home to OD CUACO.
The hosts won the toss and chose to field first, with OD CUACO posting 244-6.
That total was surpassed in the 47th over of Chestfield’s reply as Jamie Dowkes top-scored with an unbeaten 61.
Faversham 2nds failed to chase down a target of 267 as they lost to Blackheath Wanderers City of London by 57 runs in Division 4.
Faversham’s Peter Thompson returned figures of 6-80 and in reply opener Dan Sadler (85) top scored with the bat.