Claygate v Albury - 3rd July

At the Sandy Lane ground which seemed to live to its name with hardly an inch of grass on the outfield, Claygate won the toss and asked Albury to bat first.

Bowling on a hot day and on a hard abrasive pitch, Luke Webb (1-20 of 6 overs) and Joel Watkins (3-14 off 5 overs) starred by polishing the first half of Albury's batting line up in the first ten overs. They were aided by a smart piece of fielding by Umar Khan and David Meers which resulted in a run out. At 27 for 5, Albury were in trouble but Captain T Stevens dug in for a well crafted 53 to shore up the latter half of the innings, aided by a dropped catch off Ed Jones, who bowled well without luck. However new recruit Umar Khan (3-23 off 12 overs) bowled impressively and was ably aided by Sahan Wijesekera (2-8 off 2.1 overs) in mopping up the latter half of Albury's line up. Wicketkeeper Lance Mayer snaffled 4 catches. Albury managed 132 off 33.1 overs leaving Claygate with 56 overs to secure a win.

Claygate's batting line up now boasts of a recent centurion Luke Webb batting at number 11. However given the recent collapse against North Holmwood it was important to get a solid opening start. Dave Meers (17) and Henry Vincent (17) duly obliged by seeing off the new ball without damage. A mini collapse left Claygate tottering at 39 for 3 after 17 overs. But with the shine and movement of the ball long gone, an entertaining 87 run stand between Sahan Wijesekera (52) and man of the match Umer Khan (46*) followed. This stand ensured that Claygate reached their target with plenty of overs (25) to spare. O Kinnes bowled well to get 3-45 off 14 overs but got feeble support from the other end.

30 points from this six wicket win and other results in the previous week going the appropriate way ensure that Claygate will remain amongst the top three sides in the league this week.

Next week's home game against Netherne is the first of four more games in July in which the side need to perform to potential to set themselves up for a promotion back into the top division in 2011.