After three matches it is not totally relevant to be reporting who is topping the League at this stage suffice it so say Beckenham and Blackheath are currently the only two unbeaten sides and thus stand joint top in the League to date and on a less positive front, Dartford and Bromley are the only sides without a win, in the last two spots.
On a rather overcast day at Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, visitors Bromley won the toss and elected to bat, a choice they may have regretted later in the afternoon when light showers began at the ground around tea time. The wicked appeared a little slow and the Bromley batsmen found runs hard to come by against a steady Beckenham attack. Miguel Barbosa steered the innings early on making 41 but no other batsman really got set. Yasir Arafat chipped in with 29 and Imran Qayyum 23 not out as Bromley somewhat meandered to168-7 from their 50 overs, will MacVicar the pick of the Beckenham bowlers with 3-30. Very light drizzle certainly made it a task to try and keep the ball dry but this took nothing away from far the best batting performance of the day to follow as Will MacVicar scored an excellent 64 to steer Beckenham close. Raza Ali Dar finished the game of with an unbeaten 31 guiding Beckenham to a six wicket victory in the 39th over.
At the Rectory Field Blackheath early season form continued as they notched up a 25 run victory over visitors Tenterden. Blackheath elected to bat and soon looked in trouble at 8-3. Alex Roberts stopped the rot with 47 but had just taken Blackheath to 89-5. It was then when Warren Lee joined Dipyan Paul that the innings gathered momentum and their unbeaten partnership of 136 with Paul scoring 57 and Lee 76 took Blackheath to their winning total of 225-5. Tenterden fought hard, Andrew Crawford scoring 53 and Chris Vernon and Tyler Griffin 33 each, but Jahid Ahmed proved a handful to their middle and lower order, his 5-38 helping them to be bowled out for 200.
A fine century by Chris Williams helped Tunbridge Wells to a comfortable win over Dartford at the Nevill. The home side invited Dartford to bat first and early contributions of 38 by Charlie Hartley and 30 each by Gavin Pointer and David Walker set them on their way but it 86 from Howard Powell that boosted their total to 225-7 at the half way stage. In reply Chris Williams scored exactly 100 and put Tunbridge Wells in command. Robert Sehmi scored 50 and Alex Williams remained not out on 42 as TW sailed home for the loss of just four wickets and a ball short of six overs in hand.
Hartley found winning ways again as they travelled over to Sevenoaks Vine on Saturday as the Vine suffered a rare batting collapse against a well-disciplined Hartley attack. In seemingly bowler friendly conditions the Sevenoaks side invited Hartley to bat first. Wickets fell at regular intervals with James Hockley, 47, leading the top order and Richard Selvey-Clinton, 49, shepherding the middle as Hartley were bowled out for a normally modest total at the Vine of 158. In reply the Vine were soon in trouble and with only four batsmen reaching double figures, highest of which was 21 by Michel Barber, the Vine were skittled out for only 92 in the 35th over. Calvin Savage returned the best figures for Hartley with 3-16 but all the Hartley bowling figures were top quality.
Bexley picked up a valuable 18 points as they visited Lordswood very much assisted by a fine bowling performance of 5-34 by Harry Furze. Invited to bat, a number of the Bexley batsmen made starts, Christopher Laas 39, Jason Benn 37 and Matthew Stiddard 28 but none could go higher against a well organised Lordswood attack. They reached 197-7 at the half way stage. After tea, Lordswood also did not find batting easy at Martin Grove. Furze collected the first two wickets, including the vital dismissal of Fabian Cowdrey for 27. Jason Benn picked up a couple cheaply in the middle order and despite some resistance from Linden Lockhart with 40, Furze picked up another three eventually leaving Lordswood 60 short in the 44th over.
SHEPHERD NEAME KENT CRICKET LEAGUE
PREMIER LEAGUE
WEEK 3 – 21 May 2016
Beckenham 169-4 beat Bromley 168-7 by 6 wickets
Blackheath 225-5 beat Tenterden 200-10 by 25 runs
Lordswood 137-10 lost to Bexley 197-7 by 60 runs
Sevenoaks Vine 92-10 lost to Hartley 158-10 by 66 runs
Tunbridge Wells 229-4 beat Dartford 225-7 by 6 wickets