Catch up with all the latest from the Shepherd Neame Kent Cricket League from the weekend. 

SHEPHERD NEAME KENT CRICKET LEAGUE 

PREMIER LEAGUE

WEEK 16 – 28 AUGUST 2016

Bexley 232-8 beat Bromley 211-7 by 21 runs

Blackheath 126-1 beat Beckenham 125-10 by 9 wickets

Hartley 266-5 beat Lordswood 208-10 by 58 runs

Sevenoaks Vine 277-10 beat Tunbridge Wells 256-10 by 21 runs

Tenterden 248-4 beat Dartford 246-9 by 6 wickets

Hartley Country Club finally retained the Premier League title on Saturday as they defeated Lordswood by 58 runs at Culvey Close. Warmest of congratulations to them after a long and hard fought Summer. Hartley have dominated the Division for much of the season and are most certainly worthy winners. The other end of the table is on a knife edge with any one of three still able to lose Premier status for 2017 and join Dartford in Division 1. Bromley in ninth entertain Tenterden next week, Tunbridge Wells in eight host Blackheath and Lordswood, seventh, Sevenoaks Vine. The season is still very much alive for those three home Clubs.

Hartley had little hesitation in batting first on Saturday and runs were soon flowing again off the bat of James Hockley. He ends the season with an impressive tally of 825 runs at an average of 58.93 and has undoubtedly been one of the major contributors to his Club’s success. He notched up 71 and with Richard Selvey-Clinton adding 66 and Dan Stickels 53, Hartley’s innings concluded at 266-5, perhaps only a par total on the ground. Lordswood had a chance to lift themselves away from the relegation zone if they could chase this down. Unfortunately for them the ever steady Hartley attack, spearheaded by Calvin Savage, 4-17, was just too good for them on the day. Amjad Khan made 47, Zahmeer Khan 43 and Sean Dickson 39 but their plight was ended off the first ball of the 46th over when their final wicket fell with the score on 208, 58 short of their target.

Blackheath are runners up this season after they soundly thrashed Beckenham before tea at the Rectory Field. The Beckenham scorecard makes very sad reading for them as there were bundled out for just 125 in under 30 overs. Only Chris Isles with 38 had much to offer as Jahid Ahmed 3-23 and Thomas Mees 3-28 helped tear the batting apart. An unbeaten 54 from George Bell and a quick-fire 51 by Kent man Daniel Bell-Drummond saw the home side cruise to victory in 14.3 overs as the kettle boiled. As David Lloyd might say …….

Bromley had the opportunity to help themselves away from the relegation zone, a chance which they missed, as they faced a 21 run loss as they travelled to Manor Way, Bexley. The home side elected to bat and their innings was anchored by 75 from Aryan Jain. Bromley made them work hard for their runs, Nathan Hill taking 4-53. Christopher Laas with 44 and Matthew Stiddard were the other main contributors to the final Bexley total of 232-8 at the end of their 50. Bromley would have been optimistic in chasing this down but despite all their middle order getting starts. Opener Matt Smit made 43 and Nathan Hill also 43 but Bexley bowled tightly led by Jasdev Bassan 3-41 as the run rate climbed too high for Bromley as they closed on 211-7.

Tunbridge Wells added to their relegation fears as they too lost by 21 runs on the road to Sevenoaks Vine. The home side had no hesitation on choosing to bat first. Evert Bekker with 62 top scored for them Michael Barber made 43 and John Bowden and Oliver Durrell 39 apiece as the vine notched up a total of 277 for their visitors to chase. Fred Florry with 4 for 50 was perhaps the pick of the TW bowling. Michel Waller, 53 led the chase but the rest of the Tunbridge Wells innings never quite fired. Nick Sale with 4-35 caused much of the damage but despite 37 by Robert Sehmi, 31 from Charlie Russell-Vick and twenties by Marcus O’Riordan, Will Stickler, David Smith and Sean Griffin Tunbridge Wells were always just off the pace as they were bowled it for 256 off the penultimate ball of the match.

In the final match Tenterden, on their home soil, Morghew Park, beat Dartford. Dartford chose to bat and their total of 246-9 was largely due to innings if 76 by Charles Hartley and 67 from Howard Powell. Tom Richards took 3-17 for the home side. Tenterden somewhat strolled to victory in only 42.1 overs. Opener Chris Vernon scored 31, Bharat Popli, an unbeaten 64 but the highlight was a rapid 101 by keeper Ben Price as Tenterden somewhat strolled to a six wicket victory.