Three in a row dashed

CANTERBURY’SGOOD STARTCHECKED BY LORDS

Canterbury suffered their first loss since returning to the top flight after they were beaten by three wickets at high-flying Lordswood.

The away side were bowled out for a respectable 232 from 50 overs primarily thanks to a third-wicket stand worth 100 between Joe Gordon (55) and Stuart Drakeley (51), both of whom reached their respective totals in 65 deliveries.

Sam Burt contributed an unbeaten 34 in between some fine work with the ball from Lordswood’s Chris Piesley (3-34) and Jack Laraman (3-46), while Canterbury also benefited from 30 in extras.

Lords enjoyed a smooth start to their chase courtesy of a 50-run opening partnership between Laraman (22) and Linden Lockhart (71), the latter of whom supplying 41 in comparison to his partner’s six.

Shaun Piesley ( 34), Brandon Conradie (31 not out) and Taylor Chandler (17 not out) helped complete the job with five balls to spare.

Alex Smith racked up figures of 4-8 off just 3.3 overs as Sandwich beat HSBC by 10 wickets to tick off their first win of the campaign.

Electing to start with the bat, HSBC struggled to contain a fierce bowling display which saw Smith assisted by Kent’s Grant Stewart (4-19) and Fred Klaassen (2-20).

The visitors were bowled out for just 48 after 22.3 overs before Zack Fagg (31) and Tom Chapman (18) made no dismantled by Jason Benn (4-14) and Freddie Foster (4-43), who ensured Sam Stickler would finish as his side’s top scorer on just 42.

Aristides Karvelas ( 31) and Alexander Williams (20) tried to rescue the situation, only to see the wickets tumble on the way towards Tunbridge finishing all out for 163 off 44.3 overs.

Beckenham enjoyed a three-wicket victory over Bickley Park following Alex Blake’s 142 from 134 deliveries.

Having chosen to bat first, Park were led by Safwaan Imitiaz (64) and Daniel Magin (66) as they reached 255 all out after their 50 overs.

A worthy target could have been even higher had it not been for Stuart Binny (4-35) and Johan Malcolm (4-43), the former of whom was responsible for dismissing both of Park’s aforementioned high scorers.

William MacVicar also enjoyed a standout day in the field, finishing with three catches and a run out.

Blake’s century included 10 fours and six sixes in response at No.4, along with support from Finnan Bryan (22) and Rob Clements (21 not out) in hunting down a winning score of 258- 7 with four balls remaining.

Beckenham are joint-top with Lordswood on 59 points and identical records, while Tunbridge Wells stay in third despite their defeat.

Bexley, Bickley Park and Canterbury all sit on 43 points beneath the top three, followed by Sandwich on 29 points and Blackheath on 28.

The bottom two is then made up of Sevenoaks on 27 points and winless HSBC on six.