The Llamas defend 211 to beat top of the table Wimbledon

The Llamas were without unavailable skipper Richie Oliver for the trip to Wimbledon and he was immediately missed as stand-in skipper Richard Stevens lost the toss and stand-in opener Andy Delmont steered the 1st ball of the match to 2nd slip. The Wimbledon seamers bowled well on Reigate’s first ever league match on a “hybrid” pitch (a mixture of natural grass and artificial fibre). Having battled to 43/1 the pressure finally told as wickets began to fall regularly. When opener Luke Haughton was dismissed for 41, the Llamas were perilously placed at 96/6 which would soon become 113/7. The match was turned by a partnership of 79 for the 8th wicket between Sam Hall and Matt Hutcheon. Hall continued his excellent form with his 3rd half century of the season while Hutcheon played with restraint in support, aside from one hoick for 6 over the legside in the direction of Centre Court. When Hall was last man out for 81 from 104 balls the Llamas had reached a competitive total of 211.

Early wickets would be crucial in defending this score and Delmont made amends for his platinum duck by dismissing both centurions from this fixture last season in successive deliveries, including Surrey’s Ryan Patel who cut a wide long-hop to Hutcheon at deep point. Jacob McLoughlin, playing his first match of the summer having returned from university also picked up an early wicket with a smart caught and bowled and Wimbledon were struggling at 13/3.

Resistance from a side who have won 5 matches from 6 was always likely and a partnership of 60 for the 4th wicket left the game in the balance. The innings was blown open when Kiwi Jack Boyle top-edged a sweep from leg-spinner Michael Munday out to Ed Fluck at deep square leg. There was much nervousness amongst the fielding side while the ball was in the air owing to Fluck’s Coco the Clown inspired juggling performance in the outfield at Sunbury, however to much relief he held on to a good catch. 73/3 quickly became 98/7 and a comfortable victory appeared likely. Wimbledon however continued to fight hard and to much dismay the players were taken from the field due to rain with the score at 154/8 in the 43rd over. Upon the resumption Reigate only had 8.4 overs to take the final 2 wickets. Immediately upon the resumption Munday made use of the moisture in the pitch by skidding the ball into the pads of the Wimbledon number 9 to win an LBW decision and with just under 5 overs remaining another ball that skidded on hit the leg stump to secure a hard-earned victory. Munday completed his second successive 5 wicket haul, taking 5/57 from 17.1 overs.

Victory sees Reigate move above Wimbledon and into second place, ahead of next week’s clash with new leaders East Molesey.