Llamas win at East Molesey to take title race to final day

Skipper Richie Oliver had no hesitation in choosing to bowl first when he won the toss on a surprisingly damp pitch. Left-arm swing bowler Andy Delmont thrives in such conditions and he made early inroads with an opening spell of 2/21 from 8 overs. The Moles struggled to build partnerships in the conditions against the Reigate bowlers.

The introduction of the in-form Angus Dahl caused further problems for the batters and he returned impressive figures of 4/25 from 10 overs. These figures would have been even better but for a dropped catch by Ed Fluck that was parried for 6. This was one of only two blemishes in an otherwise solid fielding performance with Alex Ross, Luke Haughton, Richard Stevens and Dahl taking good boundary catches as the Moles failed in their efforts to accelerate the run rate. The other missed opportunity saw Ross throw the ball into Dahl rather than the stumps when a runout opportunity presented itself. Dahl needed to leave the field for treatment which gave coach Gary Butcher the opportunity to show the boys how it’s done for a couple of overs.

East Molesey would have had some hope of defending their total of 153 with their experienced bowling attack, however by now the pitch had dried out and become easier for batting. There was some early encouragement for the home side with the wicket of Oliver, however James Crosthwaite and Luke Haughton consolidated with a partnership of 55. Crosthwaite is ending the season in a rich vein of form and following the loss of Haughton for 22, combined with Alex Ross (32*) to knock of the remaining 89 runs in untroubled fashion. Crosthwaite’s innings of 81* was once again the stand out performance of the Reigate innings.

An 8 wicket win against defending East Molesey reflects well on the progress made this season, and there is still an outside chance of taking the title. Wimbledon now top the table on 271 points with East Molesey on 269 and Reigate on 268. The standings mean Reigate will be relying on Wimbledon and East Molesey to lose their final fixtures to be in with a chance of taking the title, but the league has consistently proven to be competitive this year from top to bottom so it is very much a case of nothing is guaranteed and there could yet be some final day drama!