Addiscombe 4s beat Beddington

We lost the toss and were put into bat by Beddington. Steve Hasler and Alex Smith opened the batting and looked good before Smith checked a drive to mid-off and was gone without looking in any trouble. Jon Kuhrt joined Hasler and together they took the score to over fifty before Kuhrt played back and was plumb in front for 24.

Leo Pavanthan then came in at 4 and started to crack the ball away nicely, scoring almost exclusively in boundaries. Hasler departed for a solid 15 and Farooq came in, hitting a massive six which cleared the pavilion at Addington and the fence behind it and therefore losing the ball. The replacement ball then got him out next ball and then got Brandon Dias out next ball too caught at slip first ball. The replacement ball was on a hatrick! But Martin Stone (14) steadied the ship and him and Leo pushed us over 100. Leo went onto his fifty, playing some cracking shots but was bowled immediately after reaching the milestone. After Jack Southwell departed LBW, David De Winter came in, with his 1985 'David Gower' autograph Grays Nicholls Scoop and his posh cap. He looked busy and purposeful and along with Mohammed Hussain, batting sensibly for 10, started to take the game away from Beddington. One over disappeared for 23 and after Mo and Aaron Dias both departed, De Winter was left not out on 47. His acceleration had meant we ended the innings on 204.

Southwell and Leo opened the bowling and were right on the money. De Winter (you couldn't keep him out the game) caught two chances off Leo and Beddington struggled to get the ball away. Leo got 2 for 11 off 5 and Jack 1 for 10 off 6. With 3 wickets down, Mo and Aaron Dias came on in a dual, teenage 'spin-twins' attack.

Mo particularly bowled tight and hardly gave a run away with his nicely paced variations - he ended up bowling an incredible 7 maidens in his 9 overs. Even Steve Hasler was impressed. Alex Smith came on to replace Aaron and had an immediate impact, taking 3 for 7 in just 3.3 overs.

Mo ended with the figures: 9 overs, 7 maidens, 7 runs and 4 wickets. It was a superb performance and he rightly led the team off at the end. The fielding was good with De Winter particularly lively and energetic in the field and Martin Stone giving away no byes in the innings and using his pads to good effect on the tricky Addington pitch. Steve Hasler took 2 sharp slip catches but was accused of jug avoidance after earlier putting down one off Jack.

Big thanks to Gavin Mander who made his debut as the 4s Umpire and did a great job.

A good win and a strong performance - well done all!