1stXI Match Report: Beckenham v. Sevenoaks Vine

Another important match for Beckenham as they fought to put some clear water between themselves and the dreaded ‘drop zone’ with the visit of Sevenoaks Vine.  The view of the Beckenham scorer was that the match was definitely winnable as he inspected a decent-looking pitch and went off to welcome his friend and colleague Charles.  A happy surprise awaited the scorer in the pavilion with the addition of his name in gold letters to the Vice-President’s Roll.  Buoyed by this happy surprise and with the weather set fair, the two scorers awaited the news that the Vine had won the toss and elected to bat.

Openers Harry Houillion and Chris Vernon started solidly against Shojib Ali and Jahid Ahmed until, with 20 on the board, Ahmed bowled Vernon for 7.  Little Lorne Burns, on his annual holiday from Spain, immediately aroused memories of a couple of past match-winning innings with three crisply-struck boundaries before Ahmed found the edge to give ‘Barney’ Balmforth a regulation catch.  Skipper Luke Schlemmer immediately gave notice of his intention to push on and, with Houillion adding fine support with a fine fifty partnership being added in good time.  Then Rob Clements made the breakthrough having Schlemmer hole out to Nick Rigg for 29.  Further success came shortly afterwards when young Harry Jones sent back Houillion to give Balmforth another catch and the score now stood at 107-4 just past the halfway point.  The tall Miles Richardson in company with Michael Cowdrey then moved the score swiftly to 145 before Ahmed, in his final over, gave Balmforth his hat-trick of catches.  As he did last week, home skipper Alex Senn brought the experience of Johan Malcolm into the attack towards the end and it wasn’t long before Harry Bevan-Thomas was well run out by Rithik Hari and Jon Bowden was trapped in front to make the score 153-7 and Beckenham looking to set themselves a manageable target.  The home skipper himself entered the attack (well, it’s my bat and my ball!) as the innings entered the latter stages and managed to find a degree of sharp turn.  Despite a few lusty blows being administered, Senn had Charlie Williams and James Carslaw holing out to James Fear and Harry Jones respectively, Malcolm finished the job by bowling Richardson for a fine 42 leaving a target of 184.  Jahid Ahmed turned in yet another excellent spell with 3-25 and all the bowlers were backed up by a fine fielding display.

Finn Bryan got the innings off to a brisk start with a couple of crisp boundaries but then Hari, still struggling to recapture his fine form of 2019, edged behind to Houillion.  Bryan continued to push on until Richardson disturbed his stumps and then skipper Senn, also struggling for form, was smartly held by Burns off Vernon to leave Beckenham wobbling on 27-3.  The repair job was then carried out by James Fear and Johan Malcolm with confident strokeplay and good running until, with the score just short of the hundred, Malcolm was caught behind off Vine skipper Luke Schlemmer for 28.  Just when Fear seemed set for a deserved fifty, he fell to the left-arm spin of Andy Reid-Dick for 43.  Nick Rigg, restored to the side, joined forces with Jahid Ahmed and looked to have rediscovered his promising early-season form backed up by excellent running between the wickets. Ahmed, meanwhile, was coolness personified, and the runs began to flow at a fine rate to put Beckenham right back in the match.  The pair took the score to 142 in the 41st over before Rigg departed for a valuable 15.  Enter the redoubtable Balmforth who immediately slotted into the valuable supporting role he does so well and, with Ahmed in complete control, the target inched closer and closer.  The Vine fielding was tremendous with young Bevan-Thomas getting through a ton of work patrolling the tennis courts boundary and saving countless runs, Beckenham’s task was not an easy one.  However, the experience of Ahmed meant that he knew just when to attack in order to keep the run rate steady and the game entered a nerve-jangling last over, Balmforth having levelled the scores from Chris Vernon’s last ball.  Richardson, back for his final over, steamed in with Balmforth solidly behind the first ball and then joyfully punching the winning run from the next leaving Ahmed unbeaten with a brilliant 47. It had been a wonderful game of cricket which was confirmed by the two umpires for the umpteenth time in recent weeks.  Even the Jabberwock enjoyed it from his position by the weeping willow, the fire having returned to his eyes after so much disappointment and the ‘calloooh, callays’ went on well into the night.

Scorecard: https://kcl.play-cricket.com/website/results/4146907 (external site)