Address; Lennard Rd, Beckenham BR3 1QW

Mahender was our Captain for this match at the delightful HSBC grounds adjacent to New Beckenham Station. We were playing their 3rd team that had no league fixture and unusually we were playing as a team on a Saturday rather than many players often guesting for other teams in response to appeals. 

Mahender opened with Stuart facing the bowling of Shimul and Kaura. Stuart was attending a wedding function in the evening so he left us at the interval with Robert capably stepping up as substituting fielder. It was hard going against this pair and with recent rains it was a stodgy outfield. There were some sunny intervals and the big sightscreens creaked audibly when moved. Anthony today was tremendous help updating the scoreboard plates on the exterior of the scorers hut. The first update was the dismissal of Mahender for 17  in the 7th being bowled by Shimul. This board featured the number of batsman in play so number 3 became Niroshan. Stuart had just got into boundary mode when a chase of runs too far left  him stranded and so he was out for 21 in the 9th. Scott joined Niroshan who was caught by Shimul for 9 in the 13th off Hamilton, with Harris now the other bowler. In came Sanjeev and got into his stride. In the 18th Shimul caught Scott for 12 off Harris this time. Sanjeev was on 12 then opened the next over with a 6. Newton was now alongside.

This was a lengthy well crafted partnership of 78 before Newton was caught and bowled by Dare in the 29th with Sanjeev now on 63 and still firing majestically. Leo steadied the innings through to the 35th when in response to Dare, Sanjeev piled a shot that went high and wicketkeeper moved forward to take the catch despite the odd sunny interval. A tremendous 78 on the tally of Sanjeev ably supported by Leo. Jonners went for a Duck in his second over facing the returning Shimul. Andrew played comfortably and almost got to boundary but pushed each time for two to be run. It was the last over when Andrew was bowled by Crozier, their 7th bowler, and Sam soon removed his pads when Mamun got a single second ball. We had surpassed the 200 and finished on 204 with Leo not out on 29. Previously unmentioned fifth bowler was Vijay who contained but could not disrupt Sanjeev in his prime.

A long walk over to the main clubhouse for tea, pausing as they made the anteroom ready for us, to watch the Cricket on projected screen. A fine tea on real plates. The clubhouse and bar is well appointed and I have seen smaller bathrooms at most major stadia. There must have been six or seven long steel trough urinals and multiple stalls with ample washing area. 

The weather was looking more unpleasant on return and in fact there were light showers towards the end but play was not interrupted. Newton opened the bowling with a Maiden and only yielded 6 in his first spell of four overs. Andrew was alongside and took the wicket of their number 2, Harris, in the 6th with Mahender safely catching at Long On. 

Mamun came in from the 9th over and swiftly removed Lloyd now on 9, same as Harris, despite the longer stay. The batting pair was now Vipul and Johnson with Sam also bowling in tandem. Sanjeev started his bowling spell in the 17th, replacing Mamun. This was to be an incredible run of 8 overs yielding only 11 for two wickets. The first of these was in the 19th  as Leo caught Vipul at Short Third Man off him for 34. This meant at drinks they were 90 for three surprisingly close to our 93 for 4 at the same point. 

Play resumed with the lean bowling including a second spell from Mamun and they only reached 116 by the 28th when Johnson was dislodged at 42, caught by Andrew at Mid On off Mamun. In the next over Wright went for 14, clean bowled by Sanjeev. Younger player Bravin (Vijay as bowler) had started quite slowly but upped  it a gear when the others were dismissed. Before his dismissal Surat perished for 11 in the 34th when Scott stumped him in the first over of Mahender’s second spell. Crozier made some big hitting resistance but Bravin was LBW to Newton in the 39th with the score at 175 and his own tally of 23. Shimul faced two balls and scored a single but we wrapped it up at 40 with a win by 12 runs as Sam delivered the final over and allowed Crozier to accelerate to 34 not out.  The last few overs had been quite a drizzle of rain but  HSBC were willing to see the game out rather than interrupted or abandoned. Fair Play. We all repaired to the Bar and to catch up in these lovely facilities and look forward to returning there later in season. 

Some pictures from the early sunshine of the match were published on the day. 

Man of the match was Sanjeev for both counts and he valued his bowling more than his prowess as batsman. Full Bowling figures are Newton 8-1-36-1 Andrew 5-0-27-1 Mamun 8-0-33-2 Sam 5-0-43-0 Sanjeev 8-0-11-2 Mahender 6-0-39-1.

Next report very soon after some figures clarification will be our visit to Hadley Wood Green on Sunday 16th and even while this appears we hope for a positive outcome while entertaining Mayfield in our 4th League Game.