Villagers stun rivals to ease drop fears
Addington Village sprung a surprise to knock Kings Hill out of the top two.
The Villagers only had one win to their name ahead of the visit from promotionchasing neighbours Kings Hill.
Robin Dooley starred with the bat, hitting 87 as Addington posted 222-7 off their 50 overs.
Kings Hill had successfully chased down 195 the week before, but came up short this weekend.
Tom Grinstead (2-36) dismissed Kings Hill’s opening pair while Liam Budd claimed a five-wicket haul as the visitors were bowled out for 153. Victory took Addington out of the bottom two.
Taking Kings Hill’s place behind leaders Staplehurst in second are Frindsbury following their 58-run victory against Old Colfeians. Frindsbury openers Josh Duane (60) – the division’s leading run scorer – and Dave Coyle (42) got the hosts off to a good start after they had won the toss.
Bashir Papolzai (4-54) and Satchi Mahendran (4-52) did their best to restrict Frindsbury to 212 all out. Chris Mumford removed both openers and only Jonathan Radhakrishnan (56) went on to make a dent in that total as Colfeians were bowled out for 154.
High Halstow pair Andrew Maurice and Christopher Maurice both hit halfcenturies for their side. Unfortunately for them, they were on the losing team, with Rainham chasing down 297-7 to claim a five-wicket win at Rayners Meadow. While the Maurices did their bit, Ciaran Fredericks chipped in with 43, leaving Rainham with plenty to do in reply.
George Mottram had taken 4-39 and he also impressed with the bat, scoring 40 not out as Rainham got home in the 48th over.
Jamie Ward was unbeaten on 84 with notable contributions from Stuart Chipperfield (55) and Oliver Lea (42).
Staplehurst remain out in front after a big win over bottom side Walmer. Gregor Paterson (115) and Tom Henson (90) were the big hitters in their 177-run victory.
Henson’s quickfire 90 came off 67 balls, and included 11 fours and two sixes. Tom Davey (54) also found the boundary with regularity to add a half-century to their total of 378-7.
Walmer, with just one win all season, were never likely to chase that total down but openers Andy Birkett (67) and Alex Butler (25) at least showed some resistance. Walmer’s fight was extinguished in the 44th over, all out for 201.
Ben Ryder claimed six wickets for Bapchild in his side’s 78-run defeat to Downham & Bellingham. Returning figures of 6-24, Ryder left Bapchild needing 189 for victory.
But Dylan Lee retired on 25 and the next best knock was Ricky Dale’s 22 as Bapchild were dismissed for 110 (Chris Goddard 4-22).