Mark Kenlock rarely fails to take wickets against Warlingham – whoever he’s playing for – and last Saturday at Church Lane was no exception as the left-arm paceman took 7-32 in 15 overs and in the process inflicted another heavy defeat on the 4th division’s bottom club.
Set 241 to win in 46 overs on a pitch of variable bounce, Warlingham set off in T20 mode with Nishan Naidoo hitting 25 from the first two overs from Richard De Mel, while at the other Kenlock had both Shane Patel and Ed Clarke caught at short leg by Scott Payton. Naidoo, taking his stance well out of his crease, continued to drive imperiously until, in the 8th over with the score on 49, he was third out when Kenlock had him lbw for 37 from only 27 balls. From this point the batsmen put up little resistance until Tim Slade, coming in at 87-7, gave the long suffering supporters a little light relief when, after taking a single off the only ball he faced from Kenlock, he smote 8 fours from the other end in a swashbuckling innings of 29 balls that saw Warlingham eventually reach 128 before he was last out for 39.
Southern Railway & Kenley had Kasim Saddiqui and Martin Duckworth to thank for stabilising their innings after Mansoor Mirza had reduced them to 6-2 following being put in when the home team won the toss. They added 115 in 36 overs until Mahesh Amin removed Duckworth for 67 – the first of his 4 victims. Saddiqui was stumped by Andy Crutcher for 55 and at 181-6 after 49 overs, Warlingham seemed to have done a reasonable job of containment. Skipper Ray Tudor, however, had other ideas and proceeded to launch a ruthless attack on the tiring bowlers. After he hit 19 off the 53rd over, some observers might have thought that 217 was enough for Warlingham’s struggling batsmen (the last time Warlingham 1st XI scored more than 200 to win was four years ago) but Tudor had either less confidence in his bowlers than they merited, or perhaps he was, understandably, just enjoying himself. In delaying the declaration until the 5th ball of the 55th over on 240-6, he was able inflict more pain on the home team as he reached 58 not out in 28 balls including 4 huge sixes. He had put on 59 with Kenlock who made 5. In the event, the timing of the declaration was academic as SR & K won by 112 with more than 15 overs to spare.
NB: Kenlock took 5-47 in 16 overs for Edward Alleyn & Honor Oak in drawn match in 2007 and 4-24 in 18 overs for Dulwich in 2002 when we lost by 126 runs.
PS: There were many Warlingham players at the club as the match started, who were not playing due to wedding of another club member. When I get swept to power, it will be illegal to invite club members to weddings in the cricket season, unless the opposition is invited too – even better – invite just the opposition.
Southern Railway & Kenley 240-6, 54.5 overs; Warlingham 128, 30.4 overs
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