Cricket round-up - King Kang rescues Reading
Sportsdesk • Published 20 May 2011 08:30
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SUKHI Kang's unbeaten innings helped Reading secure their first win of the season in Home Counties Division Two West.
In a low-scoring game at the Oxford Road Ground, Reading bowled out Dinton for 134.
A fourth-wicket partnership between George Greed and Kang saw the visitors chase down the target with five wickets to spare.
Reading won the toss and put Dinton into bat. Bowling duo Luke Beaven and David Hartley took the first four wickets between them to leave Dinton on 46-4.
Dinton skipper Mike Sutliff then battled away to make 49 before an excellent throw by Nathan Stothard resulted in Sutliff being run out one short of his half century.
That was as good as it got for the home side as Faisal Ali, Shakil Ahmed (ro) and Scott Bowler (lbw) were all dismissed for ducks.
Hartley was the pick of the bowlers, taking the last two wickets of Kelvin Burrows and Bowler to take his tally to 4-59 off 18.5 overs.
Jamie Hoddle opened up Reading's response but after putting 15 runs on the board, he was forced off the field due to a hip injury.
Tom Fray (14) was the first casualty of the innings at
30-1 closely followed by skipper Barr (5).
A mini collapse then ensued as Reading lost two more wickets for just six runs.
However, they were brought back into contention by Greed and Kang, who brought the scores up from 72-4 to 108-5.
Kang followed on from last week's 59 to rack up 39 not out and steer Reading to the victory.
Reading's captain Barr was pleased with his side's performance, both with the bat and the ball, but admitted they had to work hard for the win. He said: "Obviously it's nice to get the win behind us and we will approach the weekend in a positive manner.
"I was pleased with the way we bowled. The fielding was also pretty good and Luke and Nathan effected a couple of run outs."
He added: "It wasn't easy to score runs, it was a low-scoring game played on quite a slow pitch.
"Sukhi played well for 39 and he had a good stand with George Greed."
The only slight concern was Hoddle, who was unable to bowl and had to leave the field whilst batting.
"I thought it was best for him to be cautious," commented Barr.
"With a bit of rest he should be back in a couple of weeks."
So aside from Hoddle, Barr will have a full squad to choose from for this weekend's double-header.
Reading play host to Thame Town, who drew with Farnham Royal on their last outing, this Saturday (11.30am).
The players will be back at their Sonning Lane ground the following day for the second round of the National KO Cup when they take on Uxbridge.
KIDMORE End 1sts remain without a win in Thames Valley Division 2b after losing by five wickets at home to Chesham.
The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first but lost a couple of early wickets to slow the run-rate.
A steady partnership between Jeff Sheldon (37) and Joe Waldron (43) helped keep the scoreboard ticking over but Chesham bowled tightly and restricted Kidmore to 129-2 with 15 overs remaining.
With the middle order trying to accelerate, the pressure finally told and Kidmore collapsed to 165 runs all out.
James Frost (1-52) and Alex Crawford (2-49) took a wicket each in their opening overs to spark hope of an unlikely win but Chesham battled sensibly and reached the total with only the loss of five wickets.
Kidmore will be hoping for a better performance when they travel to Burnham 2nds this Saturday (1pm).
PAUL Reber was in imperious form as his unbeaten 110 helped Purley-on-Thames 1sts reach 284 for seven against Cove 3rds and eventually earn a draw in Thames Valley Division 4b.
Reber provided the foundation with a fine innings, which was added to with useful contributions from Patrick Allen, Lemar Maycock and Raj Senniappan, as Purley declared after 51 overs at 284 for seven.
Cove, however, remained resilient at the crease and their 181 for six finish ensured the match was drawn.
PINKNEYS Green claimed a resounding 240-run victory over Hurley in the Berks & Surrey Group semi-final of the Persimmon Village Cup. Suprej Venkat and Steve Curlewis proved to be the destroyers-in-chief with innings of 119 each as part of an opening partnership of 251 in 32 overs.
However, Darryn Wright's first ball saw Curlewis edge to the wicketkeeper before Venkat became Amy Allen's first senior wicket for Hurley when his bails were whipped off by Mike Walton. Jags Dhillon (78) also played a starring role for Pinkneys, who finished their innings at 371 for four.
The early loss of Denis Day for a single run was tempered by the form of Wright, who produced 36 runs from 21 deliveries, for Hurley, before two quick wickets banished any hopes of a comeback. With eight wickets down for 95, it was only a matter of time before Pinkneys wrapped up the victory, and the one-sided contest was brought to a close in the 28th over with the visitors still over 200 runs behind.
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 20 May 11
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