Benfleet 125 for 1 off 20 Overs
Rayleigh 126 for 1 off 19.2 Overs
Rayleigh won by 9 wickets.
Team: Christian H (Capt), Luke K, Gideon H, Nick B, Shaun G, Nathan H, Lloyd S, Sam L, Hugh K, Tom G and Matt C.
Just our second League outing of the season and after losing to Fairview in the opener this was already looking like a ‘must win’ game! Asked to field first, our bowlers and fielders immediately struggled to come to terms with how fast the outfield was and how good the wicket for batting. With the ball disappearing to all parts we quickly had to take pace off the ball with the introduction of Christian (4–1-17-0) and Matt (3–0-13-0) who did well to drag the scoring rate back without ever looking like taking wickets. On the plus side the wide and no ball count was well down and what should have been a Benfleet total well in excess of 140 was kept to just 125.
The loss of an early wicket brought in Lloyd (37*) to join Christian (35*) and this pair built a formidable partnership at around a run a ball so allowing Nathan (22*) and Sam (7*) to finish the job 2 balls into the last over. This was a well crafted and exceptionally well paced run chase by all the batsmen.
Next up is Leigh-on-Sea in the Cup followed immediately by Eastwood in the League.