2nd XI lose narrowly at Kingstonian

Saturday 6th May 2017
Travelbag Surrey Championship Division 4 – 2nd XI Competition
Stoke D’Abernon 2nd XI 251 for 7 (50 overs)
Kingstonian 2nd XI 252 for 9 (48.5 overs)
Kingstonian 2nd XI won by 1 wicket

Stoke’s second string were left to rue this one that got away as Kingstonian chased down their total with one wicket and seven balls to spare despite having been 106 for 7 at one point.

Stoke lost a largely unnecessary toss as we’d have batted first anyway; Malcolm Dickson and Andy Berry opening up. The pair saw off the first few overs with Berry in particular brutally despatching the bad ball and hitting the only 6 of the innings early on.

Spin was introduced in the form of Saqlain as early as the 9th over and the umpire’s finger went up immediately to see Dickson back in the pavilion. Saqlain’s 2nd over saw the same finger raised again just as quickly to send Berry back for 37 from 39 balls.

Giacomo Gray hit 2 boundaries on his way to 16 before being caught in the cordon off Sohaib. This brought skipper Jase Earl to the crease to join Tom Dennis. The pair built a steady partnership, Dennis facing most of the spin from Saqlain and making sure no further inroads were made from that form of attack.

Their partnership reached 58 shortly after drinks when Dennis was stumped trying to up the pace of the innings. Roddy Kelso joined his captain and the pair put on 92 at better than a run a ball. They ran aggressively and hit regular boundaries putting us in an excellent position before they fell in the 45th and 46th overs, Kelso 1 short of a half century and Earl for 70 to the returning opener.

Steve Wade and Deepak Malhotra continued the good work adding 31 before Wade was run out from the last ball of the innings which closed at 251-7, featuring a generous helping of 23 wides.

After tea the fielding effort started well, Adrian Mills finding the edge of the bat in the first over; the catch taken by Kelso in front of his face. Ed Ashwell bowled with good pace and was difficult to get away, creating pressure. Home skipper Patra hit 1 maximum, but was largely frustrated. It wasn’t long before he offered a catch to Berry at short cover.

Duncan Elder replaced Ashwell and found the edge early in his spell, Gray taking an excellent slip catch. Sikander then fell to a diving gully catch by Kelso to give Mills a 3rd wicket. 50-4. Mills would finish with figures of 10-5-19-3.

Kelso replaced Mills and Stoke were well ahead at drinks despite a big 6 from Nabi resulting in a lost ball. Shortly afterwards Elder (2-38 from his 10) claimed a 2nd wicket trapping Nabi leg before. Nabi claimed he hit the ball, but the home umpire judged it to be pad first. Sohaib hit 2 6s before skying the ball to bowler Earl and Kelso knocked back Siddique’s off stump in the next over to leave the hosts reeling at 106-7.

What hadn’t been expected was a quick partnership worth 70 between Haseeb and Hinds. Haseeb benefitted from a number of dropped catches, but made the most of his chances making 63. Hinds was also dropped early in his innings and the pair punished us for not holding on to the chances offered.

Once Earl found the edge of Haseeb’s bat to give Malhotra a catch the 9th wicket wasn’t far behind, Dennis getting a leg before decision. 63 runs were still needed and number 11 Raja looked like he wanted to get them in 2 overs rather than the 10 that remained.

Despite the aerial shots being played no further chances were offered by the 2 remaining batsmen, and incredibly Hinds (46) and Raja (32) saw Kingstonian home with 7 balls to spare.

A very disappointing start to the season, especially given the position we’d worked ourselves into, but there are many positive to take from the game, not least a tremendous batting effort and 8 points earned – the most possible for a loss.

Next week Stoke 2s host old foes Hampton Wick at the Rec.

Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/2897543