Chislehurst & West Kent 1st XI Vs Offham 1st XI

Chislehurst & West Kent 1st XI won by 5 wickets

Offham came into the game on the back of a winning draw against Bapchild, with high optimism, even though the side was not at full strength

Having been asked to bat first they soon found themselves in trouble at 7 for 2 after 4 overs. Tom Gittings, who has been so reliable this season was caught off a skier for 1 and Martin Goff was unlucky to 'play on' after 3 balls for a duck. Laurie Bell had looked comfortable until he square cut to point and was caught. 37 for 3. Ben Gittings (52) and Jason Waitt (30) put on 73 for the fourth wicket but Offham were always struggling to set a challenging total. Only some lusty blows from Gareth Day (25) and Mervyn Brooker (22) lifted the score to 186-8 off the 50 overs. On a wicket which held no demons, some felt this to be 20 or 30 runs too little.

A great opening spell by Simon Hallbrook, seven overs for only 5 runs, combined with some terrific commitment and enthusiasm in the field put Chislehurst on the back foot and at the half way mark of their innings they were only 69 for 3. Offham were unable to gain the initiative by taking a couple more wickets and a partnership of 115 between Chislehurst overseas player Faisal Hossain (61) and Willhelm Von Mollendorff (58) took them to the brink of victory. Despite losing a couple of late wickets, Chislehurst were worthy winners with 14 balls to spare.