1st XI Match Report: Bexley v Beckenham
“Good luck with your report tomorrow!” After the nerve-shredding climax of the match, the words from Beckenham skipper Alex Senn were delivered with a wicked grin! Hmm, mused the loyal Beckenham scorer searching through the words of Keith Reid in order to commence his magnum opus. “I sat me down to write a simple story, which maybe in the end became a song”.
After a wonderful few days with his best friend in Yorkshire, it was a somewhat emotional visiting scorer who arrived at Manor Way, home of League leaders Bexley. For the first time in many years, there would be no Fred White as colleague, the legendary scorer having sadly passed away. However, after greeting Richard, good friend and splendid successor to Fred, signing the Book of Condolence and having lunch, it was time to get the show on the road.
Alex Senn had won the toss and elected to bat first with an opening stand being compiled carefully by the skipper and Finn Bryan. With home openers Jas Singh and Marcus Ritson unable to secure a breakthrough, Bexley skipper Adam Riley switched to the left-arm partnership of Freddie Foster and Adam Ball. Having made a comfortable start, Senn again got rapped by Foster on the pads in front to depart with the same bowler then dismissing partner Bryan to a slip catch by Ball. From a familiar position of 50-2, James Fear and Nick Rigg set about pushing on with some sensible shot selection and excellent running. Unfortunately, Rigg’s run of miserable luck continued as skipper Riley trapped him in front in his first over. With Fear into his stride by now and partnered by Johan Malcolm, the run rate began to edge upwards until the returning Singh struck two telling blows in dismissing Malcolm and promoted James Balmforth in two overs, both to catches behind by Ben Aldred. Enter ‘Mr. Cool’, Jahid Ahmed, and the innings really began to take shape with both batsmen playing excellent cricket. Fear moved on to complete a splendid fifty in 72 balls with some thunderous shots while Ahmed batted in similar vein at the other end. Just when the stand looked set to pass the hundred, Ahmed was caught by Matt Stiddard off Ball just short of a well-deserved fifty and his dismissal was swiftly followed by that of Fear for 65. As Singh took two further quick wickets to complete a fine spell of 4-32, Beckenham’s final tally of 192-9, although reasonable, would take a very good bowling and fielding performance to defend.
Home openers Basey and Griggs started quietly before Shojib Ali broke through to remove Basey thanks to a superb catch at extra-cover by Nick Rigg. Further joy came in the next over as Ahmed struck timber to dismiss Griggs before the prolific Shaun Evans and Adam Ball combined with some sweet strokeplay to begin the makings of a dangerous stand. Moving in smoothly from the railway end, Ahmed sent Beckenham spirits rocketing by removing both in two overs, Evans to an absolutely brilliant sprawling catch again by Rigg who was promptly buried by excited team mates. George Haley and Matt Stiddard, who had caused Beckenham such heartbreak in the first half match at Foxgrove, showed a few signs of repeating the procedure but it was not to be this time. In his final over, Ahmed trapped Stiddard in front and then Haley was bowled by the precocious left-arm spinner Ishan Sabharwal to leave Bexley in a precarious position at 78-6. Skipper Riley dug in with a display of watchful defence while the little keeper Ben Aldred decided to take the opposite route and began to push the score along. Try as he may, Senn’s bowlers were unable to separate the Bexley pair as the score moved inexorable past 100 and beyond. As Jahid Ahmed said afterwards, “It was like a desert out there” with the bowlers unable to break through and nothing was happening. Aldred completed an excellent fifty in around even time before Johan Malcolm, who had suffered some punishment, had Riley caught by Ahmed for 23 to make the score 169-7 with Beckenham tails drooping and Bexley odds-on favourites to win the match and the Championship. With Foster as his willing ally, Aldred pushed the score up to 190 before suffering a rush of blood to charge Malcolm in a ‘glory shot’, miss, and be stumped by the proverbial country mile by the ecstatic Balmforth for a superb 70. With Beckenham nerves jangling (not the scorer’s who was as cool as a cucumber!), Malcolm had Singh nicking behind to an adrenaline-fuelled Balmforth to make the score 190-9. The next crucial over was delivered by young Sabharwal whereupon Foster made his grave mistake in taking a single from the first ball to expose ‘jack’, Marcus Ritson, to face the rest of the over with two required for victory and one wicket for Beckenham for the same. Two immaculate deliveries produced dots and the fourth ball arrowed in to strike Ritson’s pads which were, unfortunately, covering the wicket. An almighty appeal went up which would surely have been heard by dear Fred White in the celestial scorebox, up went umpire John Hope’s finger and mayhem ensued. For Bexley, the champagne remains on ice until the result of their final match next week while Beckenham live to fight another day with two matches remaining in which to secure the few points necessary to secure Premier League status. What a match!
Scorecard: https://kcl.play-cricket.com/website/results/4146909 (external site)
Table: https://kcl.play-cricket.com/website/division/87368 (external site)