Tonbridge fall to first defeat

Borstal CC 1st XI - 224 for 8

Tonbridge CC 1st XI - 179 All Out

Tonbridge fell to their first defeat of the season last weekend, falling to a 45 run defeat away at Borstal.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat. Whilst opener Thomas Tingley fell early, his counterpart James Whitnell started off quickly, hitting regular boundaries, and making use of a lightning fast outfield. Together with Borstal captain David Child, they really took it to the Tonbridge bowling attack, seizing upon every chance available to hit the bad balls for four. Mark Burns would eventually be introduced and take the scalp of Whitnell for a well played 53. Sam Pepper joined Child at the crease, and continued the work of Whitnell with a good 30. No one would outscore Child on the day though, his 76 was chanceless, until finally being bowled by Khurram Shehzad. The reintroduction of his brother Nadeem would prove invaluable in keeping the score under 250 as he collected some excellent late wickets and finish with figures of 5 for 41.

Needing 225 for victory, Tonbridge got off to a flyer with 13 runs in the first over, but Chirag Patel would fall in the second to Mohammed Azhar (2 for 32) to put a dent in the chase. The opening bowling attack really caused the visitors some problems, and when Julius Marshall was removed by Luke Devereaux (2 for 29), the innings needed a rebuild. The same bowler would remove Martin Snow, meaning that Ollie Peake and Steve Hall would be tasked with getting the Tonbridge innings on track. A good 40 run partnership was ended when Peake (22) mistimed a waist high full toss, and Hall (29) departed soon after. Two more quick wickets for Sama Armani (3 for 34) suddenly had Tonbridge in all sorts of trouble on 111 for 8. Tonbridge have had some excellent partnerships from the Shehzad brothers over the years, but this was always going to be a tall task. A 50-run partnership helped the visitors to not look disgraced, and the highlight for the innings will certainly be a towering six from Khurram in his 40, but the run chase would fall well short of the required total, and Tonbridge would taste defeat for the first time this season.

They host Mersham Sports this weekend hoping to get their season back on track.