Belmont and Edgware maintained their impressive start to the season with a 13-run victory over Hayes - inspired by an excellent all-round performance from Simon Taylor.
June 7, 2016 09:50ByAnonymous, Anonymous
FRIENDLY MATCH
BELMONT AND EDGWARE 173-9
HAYES CC 160-9
BECC WON BY 13 RUNS
Belmont and Edgware maintained their impressive start to the season with a 13-run victory over Hayes - inspired by an excellent all-round performance from Simon Taylor.
BECC arrived at Mill Hill Village aware that an improved batting performance from last week's fixture against Southlands would be required if they were to win the game against Hayes CC. This was particularly the case because this had been a difficult fixture last season for them.
Captain Adam Jacobs lost the toss, but on a warm, sunny day, was surprisingly told that his side were going to bat first. Elliott and Phil Mayer opened and played with controlled aggression to put on a rapid 54 for the first wicket. The highlight of this was undoubtedly when Phil heaved a big six straight down the ground.
His joy was short-lived, however, as he was caught attempting the same shot a few balls later for 20.
Field, batting at No. 3, was bowled for a duck by a shooter, before Jacobs nicked off to slip after playing down the wrong line. However, after this wobble, Simon Taylor played sensibly to rescue BECC from a potentially precarious situation.
Taylor hit some sweetly-timed cover drives during another 50-run partnership with Elliott Mayer, before the vice-captain was bowled by a jaffa for 45.
Taylor went on to reach 37, although both he and Nick McLeod were dismissed in quick succession and in similar circumstances - driving straight to cover off Lall's slow bowling.
Despite the blow of losing these senior batsmen, the lower order acquitted themselves well. Tilley played sensibly to stabilise things and was well supported by Michael Blasebalk and Jack Mendel in doing so. Although no-one scored at a particularly quick rate, their occupation of the crease, combined with the odd extra, allowed BECC to grind out vital runs.
When all three were out, Greg Mayer and David Kaplan forged a useful partnership at the end, and pushed the score up to a handy 173-9 off the 40 overs.
BECC's fielding effort got off to a good start. Jacobs, opened the bowling, maintained a tight line and length which the opening batsmen struggled to get away. Greg Mayer, coming in from the other end, was also accurate and soon picked up his first wicket when Davies - potentially a dangerous player - skied a full toss straight back to the bowler, who took a composed catch.
Although the opening bowlers failed to make further inroads, their economical bowling meant that Hayes began to feel the pressure to up the rate.
Kaplan and Tilley were then brought on and increased this further. Tilley frustrated the batsmen with his accurate left armers, but it was Kaplan who made the breakthroughs. He induced their No. 3 to slice straight to the waiting Tilley at gully, before bowling their no.4.
After being hit straight back down the ground for a six first ball, Kaplan also dismissed the No. 5, when he miscued the ball to the cover region, with Jack Mendel waiting underneath to take a smart catch. This batsman was clearly a quality player and could have taken the game away from BECC if they had spilt the chance.
From this point, Belmont tightened their grip. Kaplan took another wicket, whilst Tilley plugged away with much fortune from the other end. When their spells ended, Taylor and Mendel took over from where the previous pair left off.
Taylor, demonstrating his all-round skills, proved difficult to get away and ended up with three wickets, including that of the barnacle-like opener who scored 24 in 29 overs).
Mendel also joined the party, trapping the No. 10 LBW after he completely lost sight of the ball in the sun.
As wickets continued to tumble, the run-rate rose, until the returning opening bowlers were left with the relatively straightforward task of seeing the game out. This they did and Belmont emerged victorious by 13 runs.