Speldhurst II 109 in 39.1 overs (Ben Harrison 39, Josh Patterson 6-0-27-2, 8.2-1-10-4) lost to Bidborough III 110-3 in 17.1 overs (H Whitehouse 32, Clint Hillhouse 33, James Roche 5-0-27-2) by 7 wickets.
The final-week showdown with Bidborough. Unfortunately, we had only our blushes to save having been mathematically relegated the previous weekend.
Furthermore, Bidborough still had a very slim chance of survival so whilst availability dictated we had just the 10 players, Bidborough had (understandably) done some shuffling around of their player pool to field a very strong 11.
Batting first seemed like a good option and Tristan Price and James Roche repelled a very good opening pair. Unfortunately a lack of communication stranded both in the middle of the pitch trying to steal a run – James was the unfortunate soul to trudge (very slowly) back to the changing room.
The going was slow throughout. Resistance came in the form of Skipper Harrison (39) and Adam Nash (19), but we were eventually bowled out for 109.
With wickets needed quickly, unconventional field setting was the sensible (and most entertaining) option. Having got to 30 very quickly, exemplary bowling and fielding grabbed us 3 wickets for 3 runs.
The cat was then firmly amongst the Bidborough pigeons. But after weathering a challenging 10 overs, the batsman cut loose and got to 109 relatively quickly.
Top opening spells from Nash and Roche were the highlights, and did what every 2nd XI player has done all season: made their Skipper proud.
I managed to make 2 before being bowled.
I’m not sure how we ended up being relegated with the players we have, but we did. Hopefully were bounce back next year.
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