Reigate Priory regained the top spot in the Surrey Championship Saturday with a comprehensive seven wicket win over bottom of the table East Molesey in a game that finished halfway through the time allotted for the game.
The last time East Molesey were relegated from the Premier Division into Division One in 2013 the side showed much fighting spirit in beating the Priory at home by eight wickets with Simon Barrett scoring an unbeaten 73.
Last year the visitors had another big win at Park Lane when Dominic Reed scored 131 not out and Jonathan Fawcett, the side’s left-arm spinner took 5-41 as he bowled the Priory out and took East Molesey to a 59-run victory.
But on Saturday East Molesey seemed to have neither batsmen nor bowlers who threatened, and little taste for the fray.
Opening batsman Ben McDermott powered his way into Australian cricketing lore in the 2016-2017 Big Bash when he slammed 114 off 52 balls in what was at the time the second best individual score ever in the competition.
But on Saturday at Park Lane he succumbed to fellow countryman Andy Delmont, a part time opening bowler, who had McDermott well taken low down at slip by Danny Miller. He had lasted 11 balls for his 9 runs.
Three balls later, McDermott’s makeshift opening partner Matthew Tigg was leg before to Will Hodson for 1 and seven balls after that, Sam Burge, who in games past has been a scourge to Reigate’s bowlers, was caught behind by Michael Burgess off Delmont for1.
The game was only four overs and two balls old and East Molesey were 13-3.
Cole Campbell, a young cricketer previously with Walton on Thames, came together with skipper Reed, and between them these batsmen doubled the score from 13 to 31 before Campbell was leg before to Hodson for 15. Seven balls later Luke Beaven, in his first over, had Reed caught behind by Burgess for 4 at 33-5, with the game still only 13 overs old.
The opening medium-pace bowlers, Delmont and Hodson, had bowled 13 overs between threm and in overcast conditions were getting some swing. However Richie Oliver, standing in as captain for Chris Murtagh, focussed now on spin.
The next pair of batsmen – Nick Stevens and Jake Kings –managed only seven over of this spin attack before Stevens was bowled by Michael Munday for 9 at 53-6 and Kings became keeper Burgess’s third victim of the day behind the stumps when he was caught off Beaven’s bowling for 12 at 57-7.
With only 21 overs gone, East Molesey were looking odds on to be all out before lunch. However all-rounder Andrew Westphal and off=spinner James Smith put their heads down to form the largest partnership of the innings – 38 runs off almost 13 overs.
But 10 minutes before lunch, Oliver – who had marshalled his bowlers well – brought on Stevens for his first bowl of the innings. And in his second over he uprooted Westphal’s leg stump at 95-8 and the former Cardiff MCCU player departed as top scorer with 27 runs.
The East Molesey innings lasted only three overs and four balls after lunch as Stevens uprooted Fawcett’s off stump and Beaven had number eleven batsman Frank Knight caught at short leg by Ben Shoare for a final total of 98.
Beaven ended with the most wickets (3-21 from 12.1 overs). Delmont, Hodson and Stevens all had two wickets each with Delmont 2-17 from six overs, Hodson 2-19 from seven overs and Stevens 2-8 from four overs. Munbay took 1-27 from nine overs.
Reigate had some 82 overs remaining to get the 99 runs for the win but it took only one hour and 15 minutes and 20.1 overs to reach the target at almost five runs an over.
Oliver and Danny Miller put on 19 for the first wicket before Miller was caught for 10. Oliver next was partnered with Delmont who played a cautious innings, mindful, possibly, he hasn’t yet scored the runs he has made in seasons past.
Oliver made a run-a-ball 24 before he nicked behind to keeper Stevens.
Burgess, playing his first game of the season for the Priory hardly broke sweat in scoring 16 in 8 balls with four 4’s. His departing shot was a skier to mid-off where McDermott took the catch.
Angus Dahl joined Delmont at 66-3 in the 13th over and both batsmen played sensibly scoring the 33 runs runs needed in eight overs. Delmont finished on 28 not out from 40 balls and Dahl made 20 not out from 32 balls.
Weybridge were unable to beat Banstead at Banstead and finished the day with a winning draw which drops them down to second place in the table on110 points, six points shy of the Llamas.
Next Saturday Reigate Priory visits fifth-placed Banstead themselves for another Battle of the Borough with the game starting at 11 a.m.