Tonbridge fall to successive defeats

Tonbridge CC 1st XI - 164 All Out

Mersham Sports CC 1st XI - 165 for 2

Tonbridge fell to a second defeat in a row after a resounding 8 wicket loss at home to newly promoted Mersham Sports last weekend.

Tonbridge were inserted in to bat with a huge amount of cloud cover hovering above, which really did assist the bowlers first up. The Mersham opening pair did bowl well, and perhaps were unlucky to only grab a single wicket, which was that of Julius Marshall for 9, bowled by James Rand (3 for 24). The introduction of spin from both ends brought down the run rate and would eventually account for Chirag Patel for 25. Ollie Peake hit his best score for Tonbridge of 46, but no other player troubled the scorer enough as the home side lost nine wickets for 102 runs. Anand Nagabhushana (3 for 41) and Ashley Cook (2 for 25) shone in an excellent all round bowling display, leaving Mersham with 165 runs to chase for victory.

Needing early wickets, Tonbridge struggled early doors as the visitors looked to play aggressively from the first ball. David Harman and Jamie McVittie set a fantastic platform, putting on 74 for the first wicket. When McVittie (27) was trapped LBW by Ben Peters, and captain Mike Jessop ran out Harman (48) soon after, the game could have flipped on its head. However, Ashley Cook would follow up his excellent bowling spell with a powerful 46 not out, and was well supported by Alex Cotter with 35 not out. Mersham would complete their run chase in the 40th over, and sit now at the top of the league table.

Tonbridge play Addington Village this weekend needing to get their season back on track.