Broadstairs Cricket Club
Broadstairs Cricket Club
Broadstairs 2nd XI got back to winning ways and cemented their top three spot in Division 1 with a comprehensive victory over Sidcup CC. Winning the toss and electing to bat in near-perfect conditions, the hosts got off to a solid start, reaching 86-2 in the 20th over, with the loss of Lee Hewitt (4) and Nathan Fox (15). James Bond, who had anchored the innings until this point with a fluent 41, succumbed when he was caught off the bowling of Pule. It fell to his batting partner George Kidd to build on his recent excellent form to take charge of the Broadstairs innings and this he did with confidence and skill in a superb display of middle-overs batting. After a brief visit to the crease by Harry Carter, Adam Izzard joined Kidd at the crease and together they put on 92 runs for the 5th wicket during which time Kidd reached his 3rd half-century of the season. Izzard departed just 7 runs short of his own half-century and Josh Marshall, celebrating his 18th birthday, joined Kidd and contributed a well-made and appropriate 18 runs before being run out when the pair had opted for an ambitious second run. Shortly after, Kidd (93) was removed, caught at deep mid-off as he attempted to accelerate the scoring, conscious that there were just 7 overs remaining and plenty more runs to add to the score of 234. Pete Carey and Andy Marshall continued where previous pairings had left off and they shared a partnership of 50 with 23 runs apiece. Their dismissals, along with that of Oli Frewin brought the innings to an end with the Seasiders confident of defending the 287 they had posted.
The Sidcup reply got off to a racing start with Nash in particular, looking to hit boundaries at every available opportunity and riding his good fortune when a slip catch was missed. Eventually, in the 10th over with the score on 62, the opening bowling partnership of Carter and Fox had their first breakthrough when Nash was bowled by Fox for 38. Kidd replaced Carter at the far end and in his second over, removed Copp after he lofted one into the deep and brought out an excellent catch by Fox, running backwards and taking the ball over his shoulder. Frewin replaced Fox and began his near-single-handed dismantling of the Sidcup batting line-up finishing with figures of 7-27 off 9.5 overs. The remaining wicket was claimed by Ashley Ellison after Woods was caught by Izzard. During this phase of the match, as light rain started to look like it might become more severe and threaten play, there was a clear determination amongst the Broadstairs players to finish the match and claim a well-deserved victory. This demanded that all the catches that would come their way needed to be taken. The taking of 7 wickets in any match is an outstanding achievement and Oli Frewin will shoot to the top of the bowling stats for the division, carrying-on from where he left off last year. In addition, credit should go to Hewitt, Josh Marshall, Fox and Kidd for holding onto their tricky chances with a ball that was becoming increasingly wet and slippery. When the final wicket fell with Frewin trapping Pule LBW, Sidcup had been restricted to 147 and Broadstairs completed a 140 run victory – a winning margin that their all-round performance fully deserved.
Next week they face the tough challenge of Bromley and can look forward to testing their skills once more against one of the strongest sides in the division.
