Audley vs Porthill.
Porthill won by 5 wickets.
Week 16 takes me to Kent Hills for the first time this season.
Audley are in a rich vein of form at the moment. They’ve climbed to 2nd in Premier A on the back of 7 wins from their last 8 games, which leaves them just 10 points behind leaders Checkley going into today’s fixture. Ali Hamza Waseem’s 432 runs at 30.86 have been instrumental in their climb towards the top of the league. Ed Jones has been outstanding with the ball in recent weeks. He’s claimed 29 scalps so far this summer at 10.45. Captain Rob Hemmings has added good support with a further 23 wickets as his side have got themselves in with a chance of becoming champions for the first time since 2007. Audley produced a clinical performance when the sides met in the first half of the season. They won by 94 runs at the Old County Ground on the 23rd of May.
Porthill are on a decent run of form too. They’ve won 4 of their last 6 league games, with a winning draw against Stone last week. They’ve moved up to 9th in the table and are now well above the bottom two after a poor start to the season. Matt Coxon is having a superb season. He’s the leading wicket-taker in the division with 44 scalps at an average of 11.52. He’s also scored 436 runs with the bat at 33.54 to drag his side away from danger. Craig Barker has lent good support with a further 24 wickets.
Audley won the toss and elected to bat in bright but breezy conditions. An inside edge by Freddie Doorbar beat Porthill keeper Will Kilgariff and ran away for the first boundary of the day in the second over. Matt Coxon made an early breakthrough when Oliver Wilde nicked to John Hancock, who took a simple catch at first slip to leave the home side 4/1 after 3 overs. Porthill’s good start continued when Coxon struck again in the 5th over. He trapped Doorbar LBW when he tried to work a ball into the leg side, leaving Audley in early trouble at 5/2. An excellent catch low down by Kilgariff accounted for Ali Hamza Waseem off the bowling of Ben Holt in the next over as Audley fell into further danger.
Archie Doorbar drove a full ball from Coxon sweetly past mid-off for his first boundary in the 7th over, moving the score to 10/3. An excellent on drive from Jack Redman raced past mid-on and away to the boundary before he nicked the next ball between 2nd slip and gully for another boundary. A classy flick over square leg then followed when Holt drifted onto his pads to round out a good over for the home side as they moved to 22/3. A leading edge from Doorbar just cleared Ben Green at mid-off as he got a life in the 11th over. Another fine drive down the ground brought Redman his 4th boundary in the next over before Doorbar flicked the final ball through the vacant square leg for the second boundary of the over.
The introduction of Tom Mason into the attack immediately brought Porthill further success; he banged the ball into the surface, and it rose sharply at Doorbar. It hit the shoulder of the bat and looped to Oliver Shirley at point, who took a simple catch to leave Audley 33/4. Redman picked up his 5th boundary later in the over when he flicked to the fine-leg boundary. Coxon beat Ash Rogers’ outside edge on four consecutive occasions to round out the 15th over as the Porthill bowlers continued the relentless pressure. A wild delivery from Mason beat the diving Kilgariff and ran away for four byes before Rogers cut a short ball to the cover boundary. A powerful drive beat the fielder at mid-on for his second successive boundary. A fine drive past mid-off brought him another boundary to round out an expensive over for the visiting side, where 17 runs came from it as the score moved to 56/4.
Redman edged just short of Hancock at 1st slip in the next over, and the ball ran away to the third man boundary. A superbly timed extra cover drive then raced away for his 7th boundary from the next ball as he moved to 28*. Mason claimed the big wicket of Redman in the next over for 29 when he got a fine edge through to Kilgariff in the next over as Audley fell to 65/5. Redman did not look impressed with the decision as he left the field gesturing that he hit his pad and not the ball.
Rogers drove an over-pitched delivery from Coxon through the covers for his 4th boundary in the 19th over before an even better stroke through extra cover followed from the next ball as he moved to 21*. Rob Hemmings cut a short ball from Mason powerfully through the covers for his first boundary in the next over as the score moved to 81/5 after 20 overs. A well-timed flick through mid-wicket brought Hemmings another boundary in the 22nd over when Mason strayed onto his pads. Hemmings picked up his third boundary in the next over when he flicked the returning Holt behind square leg to move the score to 92/5.
Ben Green bowled Rogers in the 24th over when he advanced down the wicket and tried to whip him through the legside. Rogers was trying to force the issue when there was no need for it. The 6th wicket partnership was beginning to build nicely, and he rather threw his wicket away with his team in a tricky situation. His dismissal left Audley in further trouble at 94/6. Hemmings then had a stroke of luck when he attempted to work a delivery through mid-wicket in the next over. He got a thick outside edge, and the ball flew over gully and away for a streaky boundary. An excellent straight drive then brought up the 100 for the home side in fine style before he got an inside edge past Kilgariff when he attempted to force the next ball through the covers off the back foot.
Audley reached 112/6 after 27 overs when drinks came onto the field. The Porthill bowlers had been excellent in the first half of this innings, and Audley had got plenty of work to do if they were to get to a competitive total in this game. The wicket showed signs of life for the seamers, but the outfield was fast and run scoring had become easier against the softer ball. A sweetly timed drive from Hemmings perfectly dissected the offside field for a boundary in the over after drinks. Green then got his revenge when he bowled Hemmings for 32 with the next delivery that kept a touch low to leave the home side 117/7.
Ed Jones flicked a wide delivery from Tom Steele past short fine leg for his first boundary to round out the 31st over. Jones was struck by a delivery from Green that rose sharply from a length in the next over. Jones had pushed forward to play a defensive stroke, and the ball ended up hitting him on the arm as he took evasive action. Holt trapped Alex Coates LBW in the next over when he tried to work a delivery through the legside. Left-arm seamer Holt was bowling around the wicket, and it must have straightened considerably for the umpire to have given him out.
Jones feathered a catch through to Kilgariff to give Holt his 3rd wicket in the 35th over as Audley fell to 127/9. An inside edge from Ben Mellor ran away to the fine leg boundary in the 38th over as the score moved to 133/9. Holt took the final wicket of the innings in the next over when Mellor edged through to Kilgariff for his 4th catch of the innings as Audley were bowled out for 134. Holt bowled superbly and finished with figures of 4/46 as he was impressive with both the new and old balls today. He received great support from Coxon, who captured 2/20. Mason and Green also excelled with the ball from the visitors as they finished with 2/28 and 2/12 respectively, as Porthill never let Audley recover from their poor start. Kilgariff was excellent behind the stumps, and he took 4 catches in total as he backed the bowlers wonderfully throughout the innings. The visitors will now be confident that they can convert this strong position into a victory after the tea break.
Hancock whipped Coates to the mid-wicket boundary in the 2nd over as he started positively. Jones had a huge shout for LBW against Steele turned down in the next over as Audley searched for an early wicket. Steele flicked a wayward delivery from Coates behind square for his first boundary in the 6th over to move the score to 17/0. Coates then replied by beating his outside edge with an absolute snorter. Hancock flicked Jones high and handsomely over square leg for his second boundary in the next over before a fine delivery from Jones squared him up and hit the shoulder of the bat. The ball flew high over 2nd slip and away to the third man boundary as Hancock had a stroke of luck to round out the over.
A fine drive from Steele ran away to the extra cover boundary in the 9th over to move the score to 30/0 before Coates trapped Hancock LBW with the first ball of the next over. The opening partnership was just beginning to look dangerous, and Audley broke it just at the right time to keep themselves in the game. Another fine extra cover drive from Steele off Waseem this time brought him his third boundary in the 11th over. Coates had a big appeal for LBW turned down against Tom Longworth from the final delivery of the next over as he continued to ask questions of the batsmen.
Steele advanced down the wicket and lifted Waseem for a straight six in the 13th over to move the score to 40/1. Waseem found Steele’s edge when he pushed forward in the 15th over. Archie Doorbar did the rest behind the stumps as Porthill lost their 2nd wicket with 41 on the board. Longworth skipped down the pitch to Waseem and was stumped by yards as he went for a big shot in the 17th over. It was a poor shot from Longworth, and it left his side in trouble at 45/3.
Huey Nield took a spectacular one-handed catch above his head to dismiss Louis Allison off the bowling of Hemmings in the 20th over. Allison timed the shot superbly, but Nield judged his jump perfectly to hold onto a wonderful catch and reduce Porthill to 47/4. Coxon drove Hemmings to the cover boundary when he offered him some width in the 22nd over to take the visitors past the 50 mark. Shirley survived a massive appeal for caught behind off Hemmings in the 26th over when he attempted to withdraw his bat from a rising delivery. The ball appeared to run off the face of the bat and into Doorbar’s gloves, but the umpire remained unmoved, and Porthill reached drinks on 60/4 with plenty of work to do if they were going to win this match. They’d had a big stroke of luck before the drinks break, and they needed to make the most of it when play resumed.
Waseem’s left-arm spin and Hemmings’ medium pace had ground Porthill’s scoring rate to a crawl after the drinks break. Porthill had managed just 7 singles in the 5 overs before Shirley finally broke the shackles when he advanced down the pitch to Waseem and drove him down the ground for a boundary in the 33rd over to move the score to 73/4. Waseem’s 13-over spell yielded figures of 2/31 as he found sharp turn of the surface throughout. He was unlucky not to pick up more than the two wickets he ended up with. He beat the bat on multiple occasions and was a threat throughout his spell. Coxon launched Redman for a huge six over long on before smashing a full toss to the cover boundary as Porthill moved to 89/4. Another splendid extra cover drive followed as he moved to 35*.
Shirley ran Mellor to the third man boundary in the next over as the visitors moved towards the hundred mark. Coxon slammed a full toss from Redman through mid-on as the 50 partnership came up for the 5th wicket in style. Runs were now beginning to flow for Porthill, and this was their chance to really push on towards the winning line. Coxon then nicked Mellor to Wilde at slip for 40 to give Audley a potential foothold in the game when he played a loose drive in the 40th over to leave the visitors 102/5. O’Shay Reddy clipped a leg stump half-volley from Coates to the mid-wicket boundary in the 43rd over to move Porthill to within 26 runs of victory.
Shirley cut a short ball powerfully to the cover boundary in the over to move the score to 113/5 and edge Porthill closer to victory. A nick fell short of Wilde at slip to round out the over. Shirley pulled Jones down to fine leg and scrambled back for 2 to move the score to 120/5 at the end of the 47th over. He drove Mellor powerfully through mid-off for his 4th boundary to round out the next over as Porthill moved to within 10 runs of victory. Reddy pulled Jones for back-to-back boundaries to leave the visitors requiring just two more runs for victory, which came via two byes in the next over as Porthill secured victory by 5 wickets.
Shirley finished unbeaten on 32 from 84 balls as he played a fine hand in securing the victory. He batted with great patience and skill against the turning ball. He occupied the crease stoutly when Porthill were on the verge of collapsing, when they were reduced to 47/4. It was a fine all-round performance from the visitors that was set up via some fine bowling in the first innings, then some patient batting after the tea break as they secured their 5th win in their last 7 outings.
Audley never recovered from their poor start, and they didn’t get enough runs in the first innings. They had Porthill in trouble during the second innings, but they couldn’t break the crucial 5th wicket partnership early enough to give themselves a chance of victory. They now slip back to 5th in the table, 17 points behind new leaders Moddershall.
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