1stXI Match report: Beckenham v. Tunbridge Wells

The weather was glorious, Foxgrove immaculate and the erstwhile Beckenham scorer was excited about using the upgraded scoreboard for the first time this season!  Having inspected what looked to be a good-looking track, it was time to welcome ‘Little Em’ and look forward to a pleasant afternoon in the box.

Tunbridge Wells skipper Chris Williams won the toss and elected to bat and straight away ran into an inspired Junaid Nadir, right back to his best form.  First Viraj Bhatia was pinned in front and then the prized wicket of the dangerous Chris Williams who was held by James Fear juggling a catch at slip to make Wells 9-2.  Former Bromley captain Sam Smith was bedding in and Alex Williams started brightly before Dave Moody rapped him on the pads to put Wells in even more trouble at 21-3.  With Nadir and Moody now resting, the change bowlers were unable to break through as a fine stand between Smith and Marcus O’Riordan was ominously developing.  With Smith batting stylishly and playing the anchor role, Kent’s O’Riordan began to up the pace as the fifty partnership came and went until Rob Clements snapped up a smart return catch to send back Smith just short of a deserved fifty.  O’Riordan continued in imperious fashion completing an excellent fifty in 82 balls.  Another Beckenham success came when Adam Senn had Chris Davis caught behind by James Balmforth to make the score 133-5 in the 36th over.  It was then that the home side began to lose some grip on the game as O’Riordan took charge aided by Mike Waller and the run rate surged with a fine stand of 63 before the returning Nadir had Waller caught behind for 31.  Further assistance came from Mike Barker (17*) in another stand with runs coming from virtually every ball until the overs ran out with Wells on a commanding 232-6, O’Riordan (93*) unluckily missing out on what would have been a superb century.  Nadir took the bowling award with 3-55, Moody continues to pose problems with his pace and bounce but the attack probably gave Wells around 40 runs too many.

The Beckenham reply started badly with skipper Alex Senn being trapped LBW in Mike Barker’s first over.  Nick Rigg was settling in nicely with James Fear carrying on in similar vein to his knock at Blackheath the previous week.  Fear quickly became the dominant partner with Rigg utilising his speed between the wickets to fine effect.  A promising stand was cut short on 43 when change bowler Ian McLean dismissed Rigg for 17.  Newcomer Harri Aravinthan settled in and gave a glimpse of his batting prowess which has not been in evidence so far this season but it was difficult to raise the run rate as the Wells fielding was tight and well-organised and piercing it was not easy.  Sadly Fear became a further victim as, attempting to raise the tempo, was held on the boundary by O’Riordan for a fine 40.  Alex Shanks, in for the injured Johan Malcolm, struck a couple of crisp boundaries but then fell to O’Riordan’s off-spin. Aravinthan continued to bat steadily without being able to force the pace and shared a useful stand with Rob Clements before departing for 25.  Now Beckenham started to struggle as Liam McGroarty took a brace of wickets to send the score plummeting to 155-7.  Adam Senn (28*) batted well with the tail but time ran out with Beckenham well short and still looking for the first win of the season.  It had been a very professional bowling and fielding display from the Wells with the 40 runs too many proving to be crucial.

Scorecard: https://kcl.play-cricket.com/website/results/5444589 (external site)