Captain Matt Hammond accepts St Lawrence & Highland Court 1sts’ three-wicket Kent League Premier Division win at Sandwich Town 1sts would have been a great match for any neutrals.
Hammond’s team went second in the league, level on points with new frontrunners Minster 1sts, but certainly did it the hard way!
Seemingly coasting in pursuit of a victory target of 174 in the rain-reduced 30-over game, St Lawrence & Highland Court lost six wickets for just 20 runs.
But Jamie Hemphrey’s unbeaten 38 in 17 balls got them home.
“If you were a neutral there, you would have loved it,” Hammond reflected. “It had absolutely everything!
“They came out of the blocks strongly. With it being a 30-over game, it was interesting to see how they went about it.
“I wasn’t overly-disappointed about bowling first, I think we would have done the same anyway.
"We opened with spin, just to change it up.”
It was a strategy which worked well, with Josh Julian (5-31) and opening bowler Thomas Copestake (3-28) the pick of their bowlers in the hosts’ 173 all out.
Hammond said: “Tom Copestake bowled really well.
“That was good for him and he was buzzing with it.
"Josh Julian came on later in the innings. He only bowled six overs but picked up five wickets at key times.
“But I didn’t really realise Josh got five wickets initially. I was more surprised with Will (Hilton) taking five catches, so I ran to him rather than to Josh!
“It was one of those games where we took all our chances, which was nice.”
Australian overseas all-rounder Jason Sangha struck 77 from 58 balls and was well-supported by opener John Grewar, who offered a patient 24 during the 105-run stand.
But the game appeared in the balance when the visitors slid from 111-1 to 131-7 - until Hemphrey intervened. He delivered four sixes and two fours in his destructive cameo.
“John and Jason made it look relatively easy,” Hammond said. “I think John was more enjoying watching Jason go about his work from the other end.
“Once I was back in the pavilion, I think we were then thinking ‘This is going to be tough’, but fair play to Jamie.
“The way Jamie went about it was fantastic. He targeted the shorter boundary a little bit but there were some good blows in there, as well.
“We always knew he had the ability to strike a clean ball.
“It was nice to be on the right side of that result.
"If the shoe was on the other foot, we would probably have been looking at ourselves after losing five wickets for not many runs.
“But it was nice to finish on a high and with a win. There’s plenty of lessons to take from the game, as well, though.”
The win also came despite a rare low score from veteran former Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens, who contributed just one.
“I suppose it shows how far we have come,” he said. “That’s what we said after the game against Lordswood (a four-run defeat the weekend before).
“The difference was that we took that Lordswood game deep whereas, in the past couple of years, we might have got rolled out for not very many.
“For Stevo’s sake, I hope he can get in the runs again soon.
“But we all know how good he is.
"I’m sure another good score isn’t far off.”
Only two points separate the top three, ahead of St Lawrence & Highland Court’s trip to Bexley this Saturday.
But Hammond said: “Speaking to Chappers (Sandwich skipper Tom Chapman) after the game, we agreed that anyone can beat anyone in this league.
“We’re not thinking too much about it (their league position), we’re just trying to string a few results together and see where we are.”
Canterbury 1sts earned a 74-run victory at home against Blackheath 1sts.
Italian international overseas all-rounder Anthony Mosca’s 55, supported by Duncan Moore (35) and an unbeaten knock of 28 from 20 balls by returning captain Jarryd Taig, got Canterbury to 196-8.
Cameron Wilshaw’s 4-30 then ensured the away team were dismissed in the 43rd over.
Canterbury visit Hayes in the league this Saturday.
