Llamas win Battle of the Borough

Paul Bridge writes...

Reigate Priory edged Banstead by three wickets in a Battle of the Borough cup tie Sunday as the Llamas advance to the third round of the ECB National Club Cricket Championship Cup to play Sussex 1st XI Premier Division Champs Roffey away on May 29.
While both sides were in the runs in respective Saturday league play, neither side on the Sunday found scoring easy at all, the highest individual score on the day being the 40 that Reigate’s Will Irving made as the Priory scored 118-7 to beat its borough rivals, who had made 117 in 33.1 overs.
Reigate, who is sponsored by Brookworth Homes, made six changes to the side that won at Sutton while Banstead made four changes from its game against Malden Wanderers.
After winning the toss and electing to bat in the 45-over-a-side game, Banstead had an early setback in the fifth over when skipper Dan Newton was well caught at first slip by Richie Oliver off Will Hodson’s bowling for nought at 13-1. Tom Lancefield and Craig Short put on 21 together before Lancefield was caught in the gully by Beaven off pace bowler Richard Stevens for 19 at 34-2.
Craig Short, who top scored with 39 for Banstead, and Josh Stainer put on an untroubled 45 runs together to reach 79-2 before the wickets suddenly started to tumble in the nineteenth over. Steven Hirst, a slow, seamer, had just begun to bowl in tandem with skipper Luke Beaven, a left-arm orthodox spinner, when with his fifth ball Hirst had Short caught by Oliver at 79-3.
This wicket was the start of a 14-over collapse by Banstead, with eight wickets falling for just 38 runs. Beaven had Stainer caught by Irving in the next over for 16 at 81-4 and three overs later Stevens took the first of three superb one-handed catches by Priory fielders when he caught Neil Baker, Banstead’s cricket coach, off Hirst’s bowling.
Baker had seemingly hit Hirst over Richard Stevens’s head, fielding at mid-on. But Stevens, backpedalling furiously, leapt and held on to the ball as he fell backwards.
Former Reigate scorer Humphrey Bate reminisced that the catch was similar to the first wicket Stevens ever took in Priory colours on his debut away against Sutton in July 2009 when he caught and bowled David Mitchell in similar fashion.
Three overs after Stevens’s catch, Simon King dived to his left and caught Calum Estall in his left hand for 2 off Hirst’s bowling putting Banstead on 100-6. This soon became 100-7 when Luke Beaven won a leg before decision against wicket-keeper Adrian Van de Ploeg, who made 9 runs.
Satbir Mann was run out by quick-thinking from Oliver at first slip at 112-8. Dan Gale was well caught by Harry McInley one-handed over his head, in an echo of Stevens’s catch, at 116-9 and Connor Cody became Beaven’s second leg before wicket as Banstead folded at 117 all out.
Beaven finished with 4-14 on a pitch taking spin in 8.1 overs while Hirst took 3-27 in his five overs.
With Oliver opening with Ben Shoare as Reigate Priory went out to bat after the tea interval, runs came quickly, even though the asking run rate for victory was only 2.6 runs an over. Within four overs the Priory had 26 runs on the board, Oliver scoring 21 of them, when Bolton beat Oliver for pace and bowled him. Shoare went in the next over, caught behind off Satbir Mann for 5 at the same score of 26, now for two wickets, and Reigate knew the task of 118 runs to win was not going to be easy.
Henry Tye was next out, caught behind off former Reigate Colts cricketer Connor Cody for 8, at 40-3 as new batsman Will Irving joined Ali Raja in what was to be the best partnership of the innings. The going was slow as both batsman defended resolutely. They put on 27 runs together in 11 overs before Raja was caught behind off Cody for 12 at 67-4 off 20 overs.
Banstead moved to an all-spin attack with Dan Gale bowling from the pavilion end and Lancefield from the Blue Anchor End in the search for wickets. Lancefield did get two wickets with the score on 84 as King was caught by Cody for 2 and Beaven was leg before, first ball, for nought.
But Irving held the run chase together putting on a further 17 with fast bowler McInley before Irving became the seventh Priory wicket to fall at a score of 101, caught by Lancefield off Gale, for 40 runs off 70 balls.
However, McInley and Stevens, rather than look for a quick finish with swipes towards the boundary, decided to grind out the win, taking six tense overs to score the 17 runs needed. The winning runs did come from a boundary by Stevens, though, in the 38th over.
In other Group 11 cup action, Weybridge beat Ashtead by 74 runs to set up a third round game against Guildford, who beat Walton-on-Thames by 98 runs.
Reigate will play Roffey in the next round - Roffey being the Sussex 1st XI Premier league champions in both 2015 and 2014. Roffey saw off local rivals Horsham CC, Sunday, beating them by five wickets and will be the home side for the third round game May 29.
The winner of the Weybridge-Guildford game will host the fourth round game with the winner of the Roffey-Reigate Priory Match on June 19.