Promotion for Sunday team!!

So as dawn broke Bearsted supporters awoke excitedly wondering if the Sunday XI could secure the club’s third promotion of the weekend.
Unfortunately as dawn broke many of the players who had been celebrating success for the Saturday sides were still wandering around Maidstone town centre looking for taxis home in the hope of grabbing some kip before the start of the big game.
Skipper Oakland had managed to secure the services of an erudite and dapper umpire. He proved particularly useful before the game started by having a ready supply of headache pills for the players.
It was 2nd versus 3rd with only the winner going up.
The team selection looked strong and the wicket looked in good condition.
Great Chart won the toss and batted. Harry Slevin (7-0-45-1) and Alex Lush (9-1-41-0) opened the bowling and performed well. The opposition openers looked in good form and scored steadily if not spectacularly.
Steve Benjamin (9-0-34-2) came on first change and had one opener caught behind by skipper Oakland, although the choice of using his wrists rather than his gloves left some commentators a little confused. Benjamin then took a good caught and bowled.
Miles Henslow (7-0-33-0) and Mark Sandhu (8-1-35-1) bowled tidily in difficult circumstances with Gt Chart having wickets in hand. Sandhu eventually bowled their opener for an excellent 92. Slevin returned at the death bowling a wonderful full and straight line and picked up a wicket courtesy of an Alex Lush catch on the fence.
The opposition closed on 201 for 4. Wise observers, including this match reporter, looked at the strength of the Bearsted batting line up and confidently thought it would be a comfortable stroll to knock off the runs.
How little did they know.

The opposition bowlers all kept a tight line.
Tim Lush and Piers Cottee-Jones opened the batting. Lush departed quickly for 4, playing on. Sandhu strode out and hit a fine four before wafting and leaving a large gap between bat and pad.
Club legend Steve Pearce came out to the middle and raised hopes with a few magnificent strikes. One of his trademark flicks was seemingly sailing over the square leg boundary before being caught by the tallest member of the opposition leaping with hands high above his head and somehow staying infield. He was the only member of their team who could have taken that catch.
Yannick came out to bat looking a tad nervous. He stuck on in there though and supported Cottee-Jones who looked in fine nick. However the vice skipper got a pull wrong and was caught at midwicket. He departed calmly. Actually no, now I remember, he had a complete hissy fit and threw his bat as he stropped back to the pavilion.
Simon Barker came out to join the captain. After a couple of quick boundaries he failed to reach the pitch of the ball and looped up a return catch to the bowler. He stared malevolently at the pitch as if it was somehow its fault. It wasn’t.
In fairly quick order Oakland, Haggart and Lush came and went. Suddenly our very strong batting line up was 100-8 and we were looking down the barrels of a big defeat.
Benjamin and Henslow were out in the middle with only young Slevin left to bat.
The opposition bowling was still tight and accurate. Their field placing was perhaps a little negative though in the circumstances including having two fielders unnnecesarily straight and deep.
The batsmen ran really well often turning 1s into 2s. Great Chart remained confident and thought they had their wicket when Benjamin’s stumps went flying after he missed a straight one. Fortunately Benjamin had slipped the umpire £500 in used fivers over tea so when he was half way back to the pavilion the umpire suddenly remembered it was a No Ball (Editor’s Note: This is not what happened - fortunately the No Ball was called early and long before it hit the stumps).
The gallant pair carried on unfazed. It seemed perhaps that the lifeline relaxed them and they started batting with increased confidence.
Suddenly the opposition seemed a little nervous.
The crowd which had been watching with depressed indifference seemed more interested and started to believe in the impossible.
Gradually they knocked off more and more runs and the target crept into sight.
Some slightly panicking bowling changes meant there were a few more loose balls to despatch. The two batsmen did that with increasing confidence.
A few late fours meant Henslow reached his 50 and was well assisted by Jenjamin who ended unbeaten on 42.

The pair had remarkably put on an unbeaten century partnership to win the game.
Victory was well and truly snatched from the jaws of defeat. Promotion was duly won.
It should be noted that the Great Chart team who must have been terribly disappointed took the defeat with remarkably good grace and stayed for a pleasant drink afterwards.