BECC 266-5 (40 overs)
Neasden CC 200 all out (30.2 overs)
BECC won by 66 runs
In bright sunshine BECC called correctly for the third consecutive time this season. Given that forecasts suggested drizzle later in the afternoon, it made sense to make first use of a pitch that looked good, if slightly slow.
Elliott Mayer and Steven Altmann-Richer resumed their opening partnership after a hiatus (caused by the latter's injuries) of two years. However, they rolled back the years in a very fast start, with Elliott, in particular, finding the boundary with regularity. With Mayer looking in fine fettle, and Altmann-Richer nudging the ball around, Belmont were given the ideal platform to hit a big score.
The partnership continued to flourish, with Elliott reaching his 50 in no time, until the 16th over when Altmann-Richer, looking to up the run-rate even further, was bowled by a ball that was slightly too straight and full to cut, which left BECC at 95-1.
Nonetheless, if Neasden CC thought they had the big breakthrough, they were wrong. Altmann-Richer's dismissal only brought Dan Frumar to the crease. He spent a few overs playing himself in, before unleashing a flurry of boundaries, including one big six over the long square leg boundary. Meanwhile, Elliott, playing his most fluent Belmont innings for a long time, continued to keep things ticking over, helping himself to the odd four.
From around the 25th over until the 35th over, Mayer and Frumar took apart Neasden's bowling attack, as Belmont advanced at a run rate of around 10 an over. The partnership was finally broken when Frumar skied an attempted straight six to mid off. However, having made 83 and with the score at 234-2 off 34 overs, the damage had been done.
Elliott remained to see out the rest of the innings, and was able to hold his arms aloft in the 36th over when he scored his second century for the club in a memorable performance. Belmont finished with a sizable total of 266-5 with Elliott carrying his bat for 108 not out.
Neasden's chase got off to a fast start, despite a quality opening spell by Greg Mayer, who had a chance dropped at slip, saw several edges fly off for boundaries and beat the bat on a number of occasions.
He was, however, rewarded with the wickets of both opening batsmen off slower balls, the first of which was spooned to Michael Blasebalk at mid-on, with the other being flicked straight to Jacobs at mid-wicket.
At this point, the rain started and a lengthy and dangerous partnership between Neasden's no.3 and no. 4 took hold. With the ball becoming difficult to grip, Belmont bowled some loose deliveries and the batsmen were able to punish them with quality shots. That said, with runs on the board, BECC remained positive and were rewarded when Diet Gray finally bowled the left-handed no. 4 with a beautifully flighted delivery.
Nonetheless, on an increasingly sticky wicket, it was Frumar's slow wicket to wicket bowling which won the game for Belmont. He castled the no. 5 before taking the key wicket of Neasden's no. 3, for 58. From this point onwards, the opposition were never in the game.
Goldman opened his account for the club, with a short delivery which kept low and bowled the unfortunate no.6. Frumar took a further two wickets before Jacobs got in on the act, bowling their no. 8 with a slower ball. The game was finally over in the 31st over when Neasden's no.10 was unable to make it back to his crease after a mix-up and was run-out. That meant a comfortable Belmont victory, by 66 runs.
