1stXI Match report: Beckenham v. Blackheath
On a glorious summer’s day, the second half of the season had arrived with the visit of Blackheath where Beckenham had so narrowly lost in the very first game of the season. Shorn of two front-line bowlers for today’s encounter, could Beckenham pick themselves up after last week’s heartbreaking result against Minster and narrow the gap at the wrong end of the table?
Welcoming new ‘Heath scorer David, the result of the toss was announced and skipper Alex Senn had won it and opted to bat first on a decent-looking, firm track. With Nick Rigg back in the opening slot, the innings started brightly enough against Jahid Ahmed and Mahi Mahfuzul. Sadly, as has happened so often, a promising start has been cut short and, in this case, it was Rigg who had his stumps dismantled by Mahfuzul. James Fear who has been in good form recently, immediately stamped his class on proceedings with a flurry of boundaries to push up the run rate. The introduction of the lively Arafat Bhuiyan then struck gold as he produced a ‘jaffa’ that Senn (23) was forced to play but unfortunately edged to keeper Richardson. With the wily Tanweer Sikandar trundling away at the pavilion end, Bhuiyan struck twice more to send Beckenham plummeting to 79-4 just short of the halfway stage. Fear, meanwhile was untroubled and found a willing partner in Adam Senn and the combination of splendid running and sensible shot-making built a promising stand. The introduction of Dipayan Paul’s off-spin at the pavilion end kept the run rate in check. The stand was worth 35 before Paul bowled Senn but Fear completed an excellent fifty in 74 balls. Now it was the turn of the lower order, marshalled by the combative Rob Clements, to show its mettle. With Bhuiyan now bowled out having bowled well for his 3-44, the off-spin of Tejpal Birdi replaced him. The veteran Jason Bilimoria, enjoying another 1st XI career, lent splendid support before holing out for 22. Clements continued to bat well but was run out at for a valuable 32 at 182 and, with David Moody striking a couple of crisp boundaries before offering a return catch to Birdi, the innings petered out at 187-9, not a bad score on a track that was showing signs of variable bounce.
Blackheath’s innings began in a totally uncalled-for fashion, with George Wells punching a succession of inviting deliveries effortlessly through the covers. A stand of 28 was compiled in rapid time before Harri Aravinthan, opening in place of the unavailable Junaid Nadir, had Mahfuzul well caught by Adam Senn. Overseas Brendon Louw was then dismissed by the towering Moody in identical fashion to the first game, when Aravinthan held onto a stinging catch at slip. The arrival of Sikandar then put ‘Heath back in the driving seat with a series of fine attacking strokes in a stand of 44 before he holed out to Moody off Rob Clements. As skipper Alex Senn employed an all-spin pairing by bringing on Mudit Dayals leg-spin from the Neil Simpson End, Wells completed an excellent fifty before the trusty Dayal turned the game on its head by having Wells caught by the ecstatic ‘Barney’ Balmforth before bowling skipper Charlie Speller first ball for a Primary (a fact duly rubbed in by a smirking Beckenham scorer later in the day!). The dangerman was now ‘Heath keeper Richardson who had started cautiously but was now batting fluently and dominating a stand with the left-handed Jack Hersh. Moody was introduced to the attack and his express pace found the edge of Hersh’s bat to give Aravinthan another stinging slip catch. He followed that up with an absolute brute of a ball that had Dipayan Paul trying to take evasive action as the ball rocketed from the shoulder of his bat with Fear taking an excellent tumbling catch. The score now stood at 156-7 with the Beckenham supporters now dreaming of an exciting victory but Heath were not done for yet. Or were they? Richardson completed a fine fifty before holing out to Moody off Clements for 61 – 173-8 and the tension mounting. From his last ball, another Moody thunderbolt trapped Birdi bang in front – 178-9. The calm figure of Jahid Ahmed was still there though so the game certainly wasn’t over. As Bhuiyan survived a thunderous lbw appeal, Ahmed struck the winning boundary to leave Beckenham totally deflated after such a courageous display, the gap at the bottom lengthening.
Scorecard: https://kcl.play-cricket.com/website/results/5093728 (external site)