Having been beaten by second placed Hayes one week earlier, leaders Tunbridge Wells needed to bounce back to ensure that they didn’t open the door any wider in the race for the Kent League Premier Division championship.
Visiting fourth placed Bexley, they won the toss and elected to bat. They found themselves in some strife at 26 for 4. However, Drew Beazleigh was joined by Will Stickler and they put on 95 for the fifth wicket. The former fell for 41 and the latter for 57 in a total of 169. Freddie Foster took 4 for 34 and death bowler Aiden Griggs claimed 3 for 29, having taken a hat-trick in the first game between the two teams.
Matthew Barker claimed two early wickets before Matthew Lukisch went through Bexley’s middle order with 4 for 22. Matt Stiddard put up some resistance, scoring 63, but when he fell to Barker, who finished with 3 for 30, there was too much to do for the hosts’ lower order and they were bowled out for 143.
Looking to take advantage of any slip up, Hayes entertained Minster and beat them convincingly.
Although they were asked to field first, they dismissed the team from Sheppey for just 153. Akhil Venugopalan top scored with 47, and Jaahid Ali scored 36 while Alfie Peck was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 31.
Will MacVicar scored 66 not out, and Aaron Burrage 59 not out as the hosts cruised home by nine wickets with almost half of their allotted overs unused.
Third placed Sandwich Town hosted Bromley and it was the visitors who won to leapfrog them in the table. They chose to bat first and stumbled to 26 for 4 before Oliver Butterfill (60) and Aditya Kumar (41) rescued the innings. They were eventually bowled out for 161 with Ben Smith returning 4 for 29, and Alex Smith 3 for 18.
All but one Sandwich batter made it to double figures but nobody scored more than 22 as they were held to 154 for 9, finishing seven runs short. Marcus Lilley claimed 4 for 22 from his ten overs.
Fourth from bottom Lordswood looked to open up some daylight between them and the relegation zone when at home to bottom club Holmesdale, and succeeded with a six wicket win. The visitors batted first after winning the toss. Jamie Baird scored 62, and Will McDowell 39 as they accumulated 237 for 8. Abdullah Nazir took 3 for 28.
Bradley Goldsack scored 58 but at 125 for 4, there was still work to be done. However, Ed Taylor then joined Joe Gordon and they each scored 61 not out, Taylor’s coming from just 43 balls, as they reached their target with six overs to spare.
Finally, the other two teams in the bottom three met when Blackheath took on St Lawrence & Highland Court, with them on level points. The visitors were asked to bat first and lost their first two wickets without a run on the board. At 39 for 3, young Oliver Curtiss was joined by not so young Darren Stevens and they put on 101 before the former went for 61. Evergreen Stevens scored 81 at greater than a run a ball before captain Matt Hammond added 65 not out in a daunting total of 265 for 8.
Angus McKenzie scored 61 not out, and Matthew Golding 41, but the target was too great and they were bowled out for 224. Shemon Lewis claimed 3 for 33 causing last season’s champions to drop back into the bottom two.
Images courtesy of Keith Gillard