By David Fox
Broadstairs CC made it two wins out of two with a comfortable 6 wickets win at home to Beckenham CC.
The visitors won the toss and elected to bat first in fairly damp conditions. They were perhaps regretting their decision when they found themselves 15-2, both wickets claimed by Jake Benfield (2-25). Bradley Ellison (0-16 from 9 overs) kept things tight from the other end but despite this, Beckenham eased themselves back into contention with Callum Begg and Rithik Hari providing some much-needed tenacity.
The breakthrough finally came when George Kidd (1-26) prised-out Begg with ‘keeper Matt Hardy taking the catch and despite the efforts of Hari and Ross Piller, this was the start of a collapse that would see the remaining 7 wickets fall for just 52 runs. Matthew Frewin caused much of the damage, finishing with figures of 4-14, ably supported by Milind Mondal (3-12) to clean-up the tail.
Chasing a target of 141, it appeared to be a straightforward task for the hosts although their chase was not without some early setbacks with overseas Malusi Siboto dismissing Nathan Fox, Milind Mondal and Matthew Frewin with a trio of LBWs before any of the batsmen could establish themselves.
However, Alex Hogben’s resolute approach at the other end steadied any nerves and a swift 27 from Vaishak Venugopalan re-set the host’s reply. The fourth wicket fell with the score at 74-4 and from here on in, Broadstairs had the depth of batting to complete the win. As it turned out, it just needed a rapid boundary-rich 47* from Jake Benfield to complement the anchor innings provided by Hogben (59*) and together they saw the team home in what on reflection was a comfortable victory.
Broadstairs will doubtless face sterner tests over the coming weeks but with 36 points already on the board, their introduction into Championship cricket couldn’t have been more encouraging. Next week, they travel to Linden Park, hoping to make it three out of three.
Beckenham 140 all out (44.4): Matthew Frewin 4-14, Milind Mondal 3-12, Jake Benfield 2-25, George Kidd 1-26
Broadstairs 143-4 (31.2): Alex Hogben 59*, Jake Benfield 47*, Vaishak Venugopalan 27
Broadstairs won by 6 wickets
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