2s win at Kilndown & Lamberhurst

Saturday saw Bearsted 2s travel to Kilndown and Lamberhurst for the second round of fixtures in the prestigious Kent County Village League Corona League Tier 4 Division B.

In a strange occurrence, the skipper won the toss and duly elected to bat, a decision based on the fine conditions and the fact only 8 of the team had managed to find the well hidden ground.

Tim Croom and Tim Lush opened the batting, and got full value for their shots on the fast and sloping outfield, as they put on their second century partnership in succession. Whether it’s the weight of the helmet or the beard that has been added since last year, something seems to have had an impact on his batting as Croom passed 50 for the third time in as many innings, before being bowled for an excellent 84, with the score at 133.

A mini collapse followed as Lush (45), Filmer (0) and Mullins (10) all fell to leave the score at 145/4. Dave Latter (39) and Sam Luxton (30*) combined to bring the 2s to 218 from 39.5 overs before Dave did the honourable thing and decided to let the others have a bat, leaving one ball for debutant Abhilash Augustine to face.

The target of 219 to win always seemed a challenge for the home side and pressure from Harry Slevin (2/32) and Ben Lush (1/41) saw them both take an early wicket. The Kilndown number 4 played his shots from the first ball though and quickly put a dent in the bowling figures, before Dave Latter (1/25) slowed the rate with 9 overs of wily left arm bowling.

Sam Luxton (1/26) took the key wicket, well caught in the gully by Latter, before Abhilash (2/24) took his first wickets for the club, and the 2s wrapped up victory by 34 runs.

Next week sees a visit to Sissinghurst under the captaincy of Tim Lush, as both the captain and vice captain are off on (separate) holidays.