The race for the Shepherd Neame Kent Cricket League title looks certain to go to the last Saturday of the season.

SHEPHERD NEAME KENT CRICKET LEAGUE

PREMIER LEAGUE

WEEK 16 – 23 August 2014

Beckenham 218-3 v  Bexley 234-7 match incomplete

Hartley  248-9 beat  Bickley Park 189-10 by 59 runs

Lordswood  323-9 beat  Bromley 205-10 by 118 runs

Sandwich Town  259-7 beat  Blackheath 166-10 by 93 runs

Sevenoaks Vine  239-7 beat Canterbury 221-10 by 18 runs

The race for the title looks certain to go to the last Saturday of the season. There are now just ten points separating the top four with Lordswood closing the gap as Blackheath slip are outplayed at Sandwich while Sevenoaks Vine, Hartley and Lordswood all win.  The win for Sandwich takes them 18 points ahead of the second relegation spot and greatly assists their chances of staying up.

Leaders Blackheath travelled to Sandwich and invited their hosts to bat first. Marnus Labuschagne led the assault on the Blackheath attach scoring a fine 114 and with useful contributions of 38 from Robert Goatham and 30 from Alex Smith, Sandwich reached a useful 259-7 at the half way stage. The Blackheath top order fell apart against a steady Sandwich attack and at 61-6 they were in disarray. Shavawn Cunningham with 45 added some respectability but Blackheath were bowled out for 166 in the 50th over, Craig Spanton returning figures of 3-28.

Sevenoaks Vine took full advantage of the Blackheath demise, returning to the top of the table with an eighteen run victory over Canterbury. Electing to bat, Karl Pearson dropped anchor for the home side and carried his bat for an unbeaten 98 but Fabian Cowdrey 43, and Lorne Burns 35 apart, the remainder of the Vine batting rather disappointed as they slipped from 127-1 to finish on 239-7. Three of the top four Canterbury top order made starts but none built an innings and at 123-6 The Vine seemed to have the upper hand. At this point Piers Richardson joined Sam Lowry and began to reduce the deficit. They took the score to 190 when Richardson departed for 29 and sadly for Canterbury, Lowry followed soon after leaving the total on 215-8 and the lower order with just too much to do.

Hartley defeated Bickley Park by 59 runs to keep the heat on Sevenoaks Vine and sit just four points behind them in second place. Jake Hutson, 52, and David Thompson 44 were the main contributors to the Hartley total of 248-9 with Jos Siddall retuning fine figures of 6-41. Siddall also played well for his 61 in reply but no big partnerships developed and Bickley ended on 189 all out, James Thompson the pick of the Hartley bowling with 3-34.

Lordswood piled on the runs at Martin Grove having been invited to bat first by their visitors Bromley. The top four all made fifties, Rushan Jaleel 62, Lyndon Lockhart 54, Matt Greenwood 53 and Palash Joshi 50 setting a solid platform and a breezy 35 by Chris Piesley toward the end saw Lordswood to a most useful 323-9 at the close. Matt Horder was the pick of the Bromley attack with 4-66. Bromley wickets fell at regular intervals and at 76-5 were unlikely to chase down the demanding target. The Lordswood bowler all shared the spoils around as Bromley batted to secure a third batting point to close on 205 all out. Bromley are now only five points ahead of ninth placed Canterbury and have work to do to stay up. They host League leaders Sevenoaks Vine this coming Saturday whilst Canterbury host Bexley in two important matches for both clubs.

The final game of the week at Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, was sadly interrupted by injury and was duly declared an incomplete game. Bexley were invited to bat by their hosts and with an unbeaten 53 by Robert Sehmi well supported by innings of 42 by Adeel Malik, 38 by Matthew Stiddard and 32 from Wesley Fernando Bexley ended on a total of 234-7 and the half way stage. Beckenham began steadily and had reached 84-2 when Chris Isels departed for 32. A fine partnership then developed between Will MacVicar and Raza Ali Dar who, after a short rain break, took the Beckenham total to 218-3 from 44.5 overs, MacVicar 73 and Dar 71 not out, when a fast low return throw from the deep felled Mehdi Abbas with a direct hit to the back of the head. A lengthy delay awaiting the paramedics ended any chance of a restart. A sad end to a good game of cricket.