Surrey Trust League
Worcester Park 149 for 9 (40 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 152 for 9 (39.5 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon won by 1 wicket
Stoke may have fallen in their quest to qualify for the latter stages of this year’s competition, but could easily argue that they were involved in two of the best games of the tournament.
Batting first, visitors Worcester Park made a good start against the seamers, reaching 61 for 1 before Ben Holder and Nico Spreeth spun Stoke into a position of dominance at 113 for 8.
Spreeth registered figures of 8-3-12-1, but these were emphatically trumped by Holder whose 8-4-11-6 represented a personal Stoke career best and are also the best figures by any Stoke bowler in the Trust League.
After debutant Cam Tarbet bowled a full allocation of overs, Charlie Thomas made a welcome return to Stoke colours and took the ninth wicket to fall; but the last two wickets added 36 nuisance runs to close the innings on 149 for 9.
In reply the Stoke innings followed a similar pattern. Spreeth, (26), and Giacomo Gray, (36), took Stoke to 71 for 2, but six of the seven Worcester Park bowlers used took wickets at regular intervals, leaving Stoke in a virtually terminal position at 129 for 9.
However Alex Bond performed another of his lower order magic tricks, and in partnership with Keegan Weideman they knocked off the remaining runs with a ball to spare.
This partnership equalled Stoke’s record last wicket stand in the Trust League, matching that set by Sid Lahiri and Tom Gudgeon against Horley back in our first year of participation in 2007. (http://www.stokecc.co.uk/record-partnerships/)
The final table shows Stoke finish a commendable 3rd, a great achievement given this year’s availability was savaged by school tours, holidays and a below-normal level of senior player participation. James Trower has done an excellent job putting the sides together and creating an environment where everyone got a chance to show what they could do. We have a bigger senior squad as a result of playing these matches.
NEXT YEAR!!!
Scorecard Link : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/view_results_details?id=11859639
Table Link : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/league_table?id=6949&season_id=72