Broadstairs Cricket Club
Broadstairs Cricket Club
Holmesdale won by 2 wickets
Broadstairs 229 all out (44.3)
Jay Basu 146, Jake Benfield 33
Holmesdale 230-8 (47.1)
Oliver Frewin (4-42), Jake Benfield (3-39),Jay Basu (1-32)
A masterclass in batting under pressure from Broadstairs’ overseas Jay Basu was not quite enough to get his side over the line in another thrilling encounter against promotion-chasers Holmesdale CC. This was always going to be a tough match with the home fixture having ended in a tie and Broadstairs missing four regular players for the return encounter.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the visitors got off to the worst start imaginable finding themselves two wickets down before the second over was complete. The problems didn’t end there and Basu had to hold the innings together whilst a series of wickets continued to fall around him with single digit runs being added to the score on each occasion. At 48-5, it was looking like there would be a very early finish to the day. However, the arrival of Jake Benfield prompted the start of a recovery and near the mid-way point, Basu and Benfield had advanced the score to a more respectable 122. The dismissal of Benfield for 33 in the 24th over forced Basu to switch tactics and he sought to see out the remaining overs with the tail. With skill and calmness, scoring when the opportunity presented itself, but also keeping as much of the strike and relying on his partner to block and survive. Special mention in this regard to Adam Jacob who faced 33 balls for his 8 runs, allowing Basu to accumulate the runs that would be needed to reach a defendable score. Eventually, Basu fell for 146 in the 45th over and shortly after this, the innings ended with the visitors having posted 229. This total was 20-30 runs short of what they would ideally have wanted to defend with limited bowling options but more than they could have dreamed of from the perilous position they found themselves in earlier in the innings.
In order to force a victory, it would be necessary for all the bowlers to perform at the top of their game and for the fielding to be immaculate. Unfortunately, neither of these conditions were realized and despite reaching a very tense conclusion with Holmesdale having to limp over the line with only 2 wickets remaining, the hosts were in the driving seat for much of their reply. The main reason for this was the series of fielding errors that led to unnecessary boundaries and effectively gifted Holmesdale around 30 runs making the task of defending the total near-impossible. Despite this, however, there were some excellent bowling performances with Oliver Frewin (4-42), Jake Benfield (3-39) and Jay Basu (1-32) keeping the visitors in the match. However, this was not replicated with the remaining bowlers and this, coupled with the continual leakage of runs in the field, meant the win that looked possible at various stages in the innings, evaporated right at the very end.
Despite the disappointment, Broadstairs can take a great deal of encouragement from the match. They remain in 6th place and have shown that even with a depleted team, they can compete toe-to-toe with the best teams in the division. It also reinforced the importance of ground fielding skills as a key factor in forcing a win when under pressure.
Next week, Broadstairs will have another opportunity to influence the outcome of the 2024 Championship season when they travel to the same part of Kent to face Sevenoaks Vine, another side seeking promotion in what ahs become a very tight competition.
