Match Report - 1st XI vs. Walmer (a) - 19th June 2021

TONBRIDGE WIN IN NOT MUCH WALMER CLIMATES

Walmer CC 1st XI – 100 All Out

Tonbridge CC 1st XI – 104 for 2

Tonbridge claimed an important victory last weekend in a dominant 8 wicket victory away at Walmer.

The team arrived with dark clouds above, and a slightly stodgy wicket to play on. The home side won the toss and elected to bat, which came as quite a surprise. Walmer started a bit coy for the first few overs, but then opener Charlie Walsh (26) began to play aggressively, looking to hit almost every ball for a boundary. Captain Ben Peters made a bowling change, and within two balls it reaped rewards as Nadeem Shehzad picked up the wicket of Walsh, sharply caught by Chirag Patel. Nadeem (4 for 22) didn’t stop there though, as he went on to take the next three wickets, reducing Walmer from 34 for 0 to 53 for 4. Eoin McGrath (29) and Graeme North (18) looked to rebuild the innings, but both were removed by Patel (3 for 12). Martin Batley returned for a second spell and took 3 for 33, as the last five wickets fell for just 15 runs.

For the home side to have any hope, they needed to take early wickets, but Tonbridge openers Chirag Patel (22) and Greg Bird (25) were not in the mood to give the opposition any early hope. Both were removed by Stuart Milroy (2 for 20), bringing Steve Hall (15 not out) and Ben Morgan (35 not out) to the crease with 40 more runs needed. Both batsmen looked untroubled in the middle, and Morgan in particular was keen to hit that boundary at will. It was Morgan’s sixth boundary that ended the game, bringing Tonbridge their second league win of the season, and a full 18 points.

They host bottom placed Gore Court looking to make it back to back wins for the first time this season, and build some momentum as they close in on the half way point of the season.