Llamas come second best to Sussex Champs

Paul Bridge writes...

Roffey CC, the Sussex Premier League champions, outplayed Reigate Priory in every department, Sunday, as the Horsham hamlet side advanced through to the fourth round of the ECB National Club Cricket Championship Cup where it will meet Weybridge June 19.
The difference between the two sides was evident from the start in the scorecard line-ups. The Priory were playing with four players who played in the first XI win against Beddington on Saturday, and seven players from the second XI, fresh from its win against Malden Wanderers. Roffey, on the other hand, were playing with eight first teamers and three other players.
Reigate Priory won the toss and elected to bat although Richard Oliver must have been slightly surprised to have a new opening partner in skipper Luke Beaven. However that did not faze him one jot as he carried on with his fine form on the Saturday against Beddington. He hit a lively 50 runs in 42 balls against Roffey, with eight 4’s and the one 6, before he was bowled by Rohit Jagota at 73-2 in the 13th over.
However the former Worc estershire county batsman was the only Reigate batsman on the day who was able to place his shots with ease past the Roffey field. Once he was bowled, the run rate declined precipitously.
From a run a ball scoring rate in the 13th over, the next 10 overs produced only 30 runs. While the run rate did pick up somewhat after that to 48 runs in the next lot of 10 overs, the last seven overs produced only 35 runs as Reigate were all out for 180 in the 40th over, leaving five overs unused.
Ben Shoare scored 35 in 57 balls in an attempt to keep the innings going, while Will Irving scored 22 in 35 balls and Harry McInley 20 in 29 balls. Luke Barnard, the Roffey left-arm spinner, was the pick of the Roffey bowlers with 5-35 in the seven overs he bowled.
One Reigate observer was of the opinion at the end of Reigate’s innings that the total of 180 was 70 runs below par.
When Roffey’s turn came to bat, runs seemed easier to come by, despite the endeavour of the bowlers. McInley got an early breakthrough when Theodore Rivers nicked to Oliver at slip at 27-1.
Stevens bowled an excellent seven over spell getting a wicket but giving away only 20 runs. The wicket, that of Josh Fleming, the opener, who made 46, was the catch of the day – again by Oliver – as the slip fielder caught the ball diving behind and to his left.
But other nicks and balls hit in the air were either falling into vacant spaces (one thinks of two shots in succeeding overs, when the ball was hit just out of reach over Stevens’s head), or just eluding the fielders’ hands.
Beaven bowled his nine-over limit without success for 41 runs – again, a difficult stumping chance missed and a couple of nicks that failed to go to hand.
Shoare came on to bowl his off-breaks, and after an expensive first over found his line and length and picked up the wicket of Usman Khan for 15, well-held on the mid-wicket boundary by Irving.
Chris Wigley picked up the wicket of George Fleming in his second over, well caught by Toby Briggs for 43.
As the winning total came into view, Jagota, Roffey’s number four batsman, hit a 6 and a 4 off the first two balls off Shoare’s ninth over to see the Sussex side home by the comprehensive margin of six wickets with six overs to spare.
Weybridge beat Guildford Sunday by a substantial margin of 204 runs to earn the right to play Roffey in the next round of this ECB cup. Weybridge’s score of 341-6 in 45 overs was dominated by a score of 157 in 110 balls by Ben Curran, the second of the three cricketing Curran brothers. Ironically the day before Guildford had skittled Weybridge in league play for 158, winning that game by 45 runs.