2nds win away at Shipbourne

While the 1sts were beating last years KCVL Div. 1 champions at home, the 2s also chalked up a good win away to Shipbourne.

With skipper Hall playing hockey for England Vets in the Netherlands, vice skipper Mawer took the reins and backed his bowlers to give him the start we needed. Openers Gareth Abramson and Jonny Wylie (still only 13!) duly obliged, restricting the home side to just 18 runs off the first 10 overs. Max Evans and Imran Gill maintained the stranglehold with more tight bowling, leaving Shipbourne on 49 for 2 after 20 overs. The introduction of spin in the form of Tom Matthews at the halfway point saw wickets begin to fall as batsmen tried to accelerate the scoring. The young middle order had no answer to Tom's F&G which reduced Shipbourne to 74 for 9 off 33 overs. However, a stubborn last wicket partnership of 35 took them to a 40-over total of 108 after the opening bat Fryer returned from a spell on the sidelines following a back spasm. Surely not enough on what looked like a reasonable batting pitch?

And so it seemed as Messrs. Van Der Walt and Howard took the score quickly to 29 in just 7 overs. However, some decent bowling and injudicious batting saw 4 wickets fall for the addition of only 3 runs - 32 for 4. Alex Wood and Max Evans both helped Tom Matthews stage a recovery on a wicket exhibiting increasingly inconsistent bounce but it was Tom's experience that saw us home with a fine 26 no with 2 wickets and 8 overs to spare.

A good start to our league campaign. The 2nds have a strong squad this year with ample bowling resources. We should have a successful season if we can work on our batting to make it rather more solid.