Kent County Village League Division 4: Kemsing (218-6) beat Otford (154 all out)
On a scorching hot day at Kemsing, home skipper Grahame Wood won the toss and Kemsing were batting against local rivals, Otford, in a 3rd v 2nd must-win match on Saturday.
After some wayward bowling and an aggressive start by the batsmen, Kemsing were handily placed at drinks, at 15 overs, on 92-0. However, the Otford bowlers gathered themselves and were much more effective as the innings progressed. The 1st wicket fell on 99, with Wood Snr. out for 54, as he swept at a particularly slow ball, missed it and then knocked it onto the stumps with the back of his bat.
Big-hitting James Walkling scored 44 scintillating runs, before chipping the ball to a fielder, having put on 64 runs in nine overs with Jake Wood. After that, wickets fell at regular intervals, as the batsmen tried to force the pace, with Jake providing the backbone to the innings, finishing with 51 not out in a decent total of 218.
Things did not go well for Otford, when they batted, with Grahame Wood opening the bowling. Otford opener Peter Richardson was millimetres from being plumb LBW first ball, as he played across a straight ball, but failed to play straight to the next ball, which removed his middle stump.
The 2nd wicket partnership of 52 seemed to have steadied the ship, but two wickets in two overs for Ian Wise left them reeling at 57-3. The league’s leading wicket-taker, Roger Shaddock, was not to be upstaged and he took two wickets in four overs, to leave the Otford reply in tatters at 88-5 after 18 overs.
Wood came back for a one-over spell, taking a wicket with his first ball and Shaddock took two more, before Charlie Whitehead and Wood closed out the innings on 154, with an excellent low catch from Nizam to finish things off. Shaddock enhanced his claims to the top wicket-taker spot, with 4-12, while Wood took 3-19 and Wise 2-20.
Kemsing are back up to 2nd place in KCVL Division 4, with everything to play for!
