Park Weather Beaten

Park bowled first with Dave and Craig Partridge doing the honours, but the Beckenham opening pair of Chris Whittaker and Dave Hudson looked very comfortable and got the home side off to a steady albeit slow start. With neither of the Partridge lads able to make the breakthrough, it was time for Dad Partridge and skip Fowdy to try their luck. It was Bill who finally dismissed Whittaker with a stunning caught and bowled, stooping low and lefthanded to take a ball that was heading to the mid off boundary like a missile. Whittaker out for a superb captains knock of 52 and Beckenham 94 for 1. Soon after, Bill was to remove the other opener Hudson when he edged behind for Dave Brupacher to catch. Hudson out for an excellent 42 and Beckanham now on 107 for 2. With Roger Weston and Dave Fletcher taking over the bowling duties, Beckenham were kept realtively quiet for a while until Haresh Jeeva Barot lofted Roger high into the outfield only to see Simon Ewin running in and skidding low to take an outstanding catch. Beckenham 122 for 3. With Fletch bowling tidily at the other end, Craig Partridge came back on to finish his alloted overs and now bowling much quicker than his opening spell, clean bowled both Leon Darrell and Gary Singh to leave Beckenham on a final score of 173 for 5.

Christian O'Mahoney and Dave Hearn opened the batting for Park, on a very wet pitch, after a tea-time downpour that had the match in some doubt. Van der Westahazen and Garbett, Beckenham's opening bowlers certainly were getting the ball to zip through and achieving some bounve in a difficult opening spell. Christian as ever, played his shots and rode his luck as the wet ball smeared off his bat at all angles, and survived several catching opportunitys to rack up a quickfire 19 before he was eventually bowled. Park, 33 for 1, and Hearnie was pretty quiet at his end. Si Ewin came in at no.3 but didn't last long as he was out LBW without troubling the scorers. Park 35 for 2. Darran Fowdy joined Hearnie at no.4, and they tried to consolidate the Park innings. The score was starting to recover, with 19 runs added when Hearnie was bowled for a solid 15 and Park were starting to struggle on 54 for 3. Things took a turn for the worse when the Skipper was out 4 runs later, holing out to Barot off Van der Westhazen. Craig Partridge and Dave Brupbacher came together in the biggest partnership of the innings, with Craig starting to pull his trademark cover drives out of the bag. These two put a superb 62 on, and for a while the Park hopes were high for an improbable victory. Then came the bowling change that turned the match decisively in Beckenhams favour. With spinner Solanki on, Bru fell first ball edging behind for a handy 11 runs. Park 120 for 5, and 54 runs short of a victory. Kenny Robotham was in next but he was soon trapped LBW to Solanki, and Park were 122 for 6. With a fifty in sight, Craig was then bowled at the other end for a very entertaining, and once again, jug evading 47, and the fat lady was clearing her throat as Park slumped to 122 for 7. Dave Fletcher and Roger Weston, were at the crease, and with 52 runs still needed for victory. It was looking even worse when Roger was bowled for 2 to leave Park on 129 for 8. Dave Partridge joined Fletch in the middle, and these two looked like they might be able to turn things around until Davey P was bowled for 6 (Park 141 for 9). The game was wrapped up when Fletch popped one up to be caught for 6 and Park were al out for 144 off 40.4 overs.

A dissapointing loss after restricting Beckenham/Sydenham to a reasonable score, the Park faithful were confident that the target could be reached. However, the Beckenham bowlers exploited the damp conditions and bowled with real verve to ensure that Park never really threatened their total. MOM today goest to Craig Partridge for top scoring with 47, and taking two wickets in probably his most effective bowling performance of the year. Again, special mention to umpire Al Horton who officiated at both ends.