Tonbridge make it an unwanted hat-trick

Tonbridge CC 1st XI - 168 All Out

Addington Village CC 1st XI - 169 for 5

Tonbridge fell to a third successive defeat with their loss at Addington Village last weekend.

After winning the toss, the visitors elected to bat on a deck that is traditionally very variable, and it would be no different on Saturday. The ball would pop off a length and also bounce low at times, making it tough for the batsmen. After both Tonbridge openers fell early, Martin Snow (35) and Ollie Peake (20) would steady the ship to take the score to 50. Both players would fall to Alfi Cobley who was the pick of the Addington bowlers. Cobley (4 for 29) dismantled the middle order, taking two more wickets, leaving Tonbridge at 92 for 6. Steve Hall and Khurram Shehzad batted well to take Tonbridge past 100, putting on 51 for the 7th wicket before the latter was dismissed for 22 by Tom Wooding (3 for 23). The same bowler would remove Hall for 41 as the last four wickets fell fairly quickly, leaving the home side with 169 to win.

The Addington openers made their intentions clear early, they were going on the attack, and they did it with great effect. Ryan Lucas and Reese Thwaites both hit regular boundaries to quickly eat into the target. The Tonbridge bowlers most definitely didn't cover themselves in glory, and before they knew it the game had slipped away. The opening partnership was finally broken by Khurram Shehzad, with Thwaites falling for 55 with the score on 109. Shehzad would remove Lucas as well for 54, and then two Ben Peters wickets threatened to make it interesting, but it was too little too late as Addington got to their target with 5 wickets remaining as well as 11 ½ overs.

Tonbridge host Bapchild this weekend needing to win to salvage any hope of a competitive season.