Sahil ton too hot to handle in crushing win

Sahil Kalyan hit his first ever century for the firsts and the team racked up 276 with Edd also getting 84 before bowling out Wantage for less than half our score.

We arrived at the Brake on a decent afternoon, to be greeted by a wicket which looked a darker green than the square. Not what you would expect to be given halfway through the season in a cricket ground, perhaps for some lawn bowls. Skipper Edd decided that this was too poor to be left like this and decided to get the mower out and trim the strip. Unfortunately the mower was broken so this idea had to be abandoned. The toss took place and we batted first. We were expecting it to be bouncier than usual with a bit of seam movement, hopefully not too lethal. Sahil Kalyan and Andy Oliver opened the innings with the opening bowlers not looking great. After loosening up for a couple of overs, they started to bowl a bit better. Andy and Sahil started to get a partnership be going quite nicely, Andy carrying on his form from last week. Sahil was using a new bat this week after breaking his last, and so far it seemed to be doing the job. During the 18th over, the first wicket fell with the score on 60 as Andy was dismissed following a sharp catch. Craig Woods returned from holiday to bat at 3 but sadly did not return to form and was sent back to the Pavilion for 7 runs. The partnership of the day started at this moment when Edd joined Sahil. Some beautiful shots were played by the pair and fielders teased with the ball going all over the ground. Both crossed 50 and still had the hunger for more, as the bowling was not getting better but our guys were relentless. The partnership ended in the 42nd over after tired Edd Willmot was stumped for a magnificent 84. The duo put on 154 in 21 overs! Sam Rodway partnered Sahil, who was 3 away from triple digits, and had to tee off straight away with so many wickets left. The gamble didn't come off and he went for 2 in the same over. Ben Bollig was the only other batsmen needed, hitting a couple of boundaries while Sahil scored a maiden 1st team century and 2nd in his KCC career! A fantastically paced innings with some luck here and there brought up a score that was a long time coming. The remaining balls were negated and the innings finished on a mammoth total of 276-4, we clearly had the upper hand but still had half the job to do.

The Franshams provided a cracking tea, boosting our morale even more as we set off to complete our task. Kamran Ramzan opened the bowling alongside Will Thwaites. Both started well but Wantage's O Kelly was in an attacking mindset, given the required run rate. He played some solid shots and was looking the part but a maiden from Kamran made him panic and after a couple of good balls from Will, he went for a ugly swipe and the ball went high in the air to square leg. It looked a difficult catch and with Chris Graham tottering below, O Kelly would be forgiven for thinking it would go down. Chris had other ideas and took it into his lap as he tumbled backwards, a huge wicket to get at this moment. Both Mercer and number 3 Wong weren't batting with the intent to succeed, more so to get themselves a personal score. Will was in the middle of his best spell of the season so far and wasn't going to let that happen, he breached Mercer's defences and soon after got another with a great ball, while Wong batted on. Jacob Oliver had a part to play in this as he was bowling tightly at the other end, giving very little away. Will was rested after 10 amazing overs, in fear of tiring him out meaning that Chris joined the attack. Edd also replaced Jacob after his max overs in a spell allowance. Edd picked up 2 and it was all seeming too easy, we were challenging ourselves to bowl them out for under 150. Chris Graham's first became the 6th altogether then got Wong with a ball that should have never got a wicket, to leave Wantage on 137-7. Kamran returned and on his first ball in his 2nd over of the new spell, ran out the batsmen by throwing a ball that was hit back to him through the strikers legs as he stood watching from 2 inches outside his crease. The next 2 balls narrowly missed the off stump, then the 4th ball hit middle to get his first wicket. The following ball was an action replay as the innings was wrapped up in 36.5 overs, for 137. Kamran to be on a hattrick next time vs Wantage. What an emphatic victory and quality batting performance yet again, our 3rd successive 230+ score while batting first. Hopefully we will carry this momentum into the huge weekend we have coming up, Marcham on Saturday in the league as the promotion battle is getting tense, followed by the Telegraph cup semi final on Sunday against Combe.