VI-Kings recover their love of South London (and their pride).

By Chris Hudson

Reigate Priory VI-Kings 130-6 (25 overs) beat ODCuaco CC 129-8 (35 overs) by four wickets

By jason irwin.

On a glorious day in the South London sunshine (that’s not a joke) the VI-kings captain for the day jason irwin won the toss and after deliberations with his bowling coach decided to bowl first and unleash his Colts players on the opposition. The start is worth mentioning as it did not take long for the young lads to strike with Arthur Thilo taking the first wicket in only the second over. Bowling at pace from the northern end, young Arthur rocketed a ball through for Geoff ‘Caveman’ Chay to take the easiest of catches’ at keeper. A wicket maiden. Score: 1 for 1 off 2 overs.
Arnav Patnaik was making life difficult for the oppo at the other end with the ball seemingly swinging at will. The frustration took its toll on the batsman with Arthur taking another wicket the next over. Score: 6 for 2 off 4.
The oppo struggled to get going before the number 4 batsman put the ball into the air in the off-side, and the fielders at cover and mid-off looked at each other before the Captain took it upon his broad shoulders to take the catch. His weary legs had to carry him a long way from where he was fielding at mid-off. Score: 10 for 3 off 5.
ODCuaco then built several successful partnerships before finishing on 129 for 8 off 35 overs. The pick off the bowlers was Arthur with 4 for 7 off 7 overs, and was on a hat trick at one point. TJ Cossey with 1 for 17 off 7 overs was unlucky to not get more wickets considering the oppo batsman’s main shot off him was an inside edge. The above bowlers were aided with some accurate bowling from Ned Littlemore and Alex Speke, wicket-taking from Mark Waine, and keeping from Geoff.
As the VI-kings innings began they were reasonably confident this was a gettable score. The batting was opened by Harrison Lewis and Dave Littlemore which were plundering their way to glory before young Harrison was given out lbw. Dave soon followed him bringing Arnav and Chris Vassou to the crease. They did a superb job steadying the ship and taking the Vikings from 31 runs through to 127 with Chris bludgeoning the attack to the boundary ropes. Chris did survive one scare however where he decided to take on the longest boundary (and lost), but was dropped in the outfield. Both batsmen were selfless telling the captain as he umpired that they wanted to give others a bat, which soon came to pass with Chris making 58 runs and Arnav 38. At which point the VI-kings experienced that most English of cricket experiences, a middle order collapse, going from 127 for 2 through to 129 for 6, losing a wicket an over for the last four overs.
It all began with Geoff arriving at the crease with 3 runs to win in 13 overs, taking a heave and getting caught for a duck. Next up was Mark Waine who was also caught for (you guessed it) a duck. In strode the captain with the score at 128, and understanding the enormity of the task at hand, a captains innings was required here, to steady the ship, to project calmness, and then was given out lbw for (you guessed it) a duck. Jason was not a happy camper, after all he did get plenty of bat on ball, however unlike his namesake in the England team, he took the decision stoically and trudged off, his full match fee intact. This brought Ned and Arthur out to the middle and they took no time in hitting the winning runs.
It was a great effort by all especially the young lads who really stepped up today. Sam Gregson keep your eyes off them!