On Shoreham 1st team first visit to Horsmonden they won the toss and decided to bowl on what turned out to be a lively wicket. J. Trick (9-15-0) and N. Jeffrey (9-35-1) opened the bowling for Shoreham and bowled a testing opening spell but failed to take any wickets as the Horsmonden pairing of M. Davis (6) and L. Langridge (26) dug in to see them off. The introduction of S. Arokiasamy (9-38-2) saw the breakthrough for Shoreham as Davis departed with the score on 42 to a sharp catch in the slips. K. Fordham then came to the crease and looked to move the score along with some strong drives which proved to be his downfall as he departed for 10 after being deceived by a slower ball bowled by R. Harris (6-27-2) on his first 11 debut. Harris continued to bustle in and was rewarded with his second wicket of the day when Langridge mistimed the ball to N. Jeffrey in the covers. B. Stacey (7-25-4) replaced Harris for Shoreham and was soon in full flow removing the Horsmonden Skipper, T Walford for 24. Stacey continued to bowl a variation of deliveries which saw his take the wickets of N. Paul (9), Dallocco (21) and Bignall (6) with the aid of catches from Jeffrey and Arokiasamy. The opening bowlers returned for Shoreham in an attempt to take the two remaining Horsmonden wickets which looked possible as Jeffrey bowled S. Stibbs for 9, but Horsonden clung on to end on 151-9 with May (4*) and Blackhall (0*) holding on to deny Shoreham the final bowling point.

After tea S. Kokkiligadda (25) and S. Arokiasamy (17) opened for Shoreham and started aggressively moving the score on to 33 by the 4th over. However May (7-32-3) bowled a tight menacing line for Horsmonden which saw him remove both Shoreham openers and A. Monteith (4) coming in at three. The pressure was starting to build on Shoreham who were in need of some consolidation to their innings which was offered by P. Edge (42) and S. Clarke (23) who shared a partnership of 67 for the 4th wickets. The contrast of Edge’s muscular slap shots and Clarke’s elegant stroke play moved Shoreham into a commanding position but both fell in quick succession to the bowling of Stibbs (4-25-1) and Bignall (3-34-1) respectively. This bought the Trick brothers to the crease with Shoreham needing 20 to win which was achieved in 21.3 overs with J. Trick and S. Trick both ending not out on 16 and 5 respectively.

- Ray

> View scorecard

Posted on Tuesday, 14th July, 2009 in 1sts Match Reports.