The Shepherd Neame Essex League
Saturday 31st May 2014
Belhus 1st xi 189 for 9
Hutton 1st xi 68 all out
BELHUS first eleven travelled to Hutton and returned home with what can only be described as a sensational victory under their belts. Batting first and faltering at 78 for 6 at one stage Belhus were rescued by hard hitting all-rounder Matt Lewis jnr. His 54 runs carrying the visitors to what proved to be an unlikely obstacle for the home side. Chasing a defendable but very gettable total of 189 Hutton were blown away for just 68 runs. Belhus seam bowlers Dan Norris and Connor Day shared nine scalps between them.
Norris snaring five wickets for just fifteen runs and Day claiming four.
Hutton 2xi 260 for 7
Belhus 2xi 124 all out
Belhus second eleven hosted Hutton second eleven at the village green, North Stifford. Hutton were asked to bat first and their openers O’Dell and Taylor constructed a fine century partnership. O’Dell eventually being removed by Scott Bayford for 68 runs and Taylor departing for 58. The flow of runs was checked by some tight bowling from Belhus but a steady accumulation saw Hutton finishing on 260 for 7 declared. Keith Dhannie finished with 3 wickets for the home side in a marathon spell of 16 consecutive overs. Scott Bayford and Imran Mohammed collected two scalps each. Pearce (43) and Crasswel l (23 ) put on vital middle order runs for the visitors.
In response to some very accurate bowling by Hutton a number of Belhus batsmen made solid starts but were unable to push on – Stuart Morris top scored with 39 and Jim Robertson and John Lewis Snr both contributed 25 runs each. Wickets fell at regular intervals and there was never a point at which Belhus looked like being on top of the opposition attack. In the end 124 all out was a very disappointing total for a side with considerable depth in its batting line up.
Belhus 3xi 113 all out
Old Southendians and South Church 115 for 6.
The South Ockendon Recreation Ground was the venue for this clash. Belhus were put in to bat first by the visitors on a track which kept low from the start. Richard Dobson top scored for the home side with 40 valuable runs. Jake Wolfe and Jim Banner also made significant contribution with scores of 23 and 18 each. Belhus however were only able to bat for 34 overs with Seaman claiming four wickets for 35 runs. 113 was always going to be a very difficult total to defend and despite a valiant return of 3 for 28 from 15 overs by skipper Jim Banner the visitors cruised to victory. P Clark scoring 25 not out.
