Reigate Priory lost their first game of the season Saturday as the team fell by five wickets to last year's champions Wimbledon. The Priory maintains its position on top of the table with 79 points, but the lead now is cut to 23 points over Wimbledon, who are in second place.
Priory was unable to break free from a wicket taking spin and reached 186-8 off the maximum 66 overs allowed. Australian overseas player Andy Delmont once again was the bulwark of the innings with 52 from 88 balls.
Wimbledon in reply, doggedly worked towards the win, built round a determined 68 from Ben Compton with supporting roles from captain Chris Benham (35), Will Leigh (44) and Gerry Penfold (32 not out).
Following the game Delmont was heard to complain he had never been on a winning side against Wimbledon since joining the club in 2012. In fact only one player on Reigate's team – Simon King – would remember the last time the Priory beat Wimbledon, almost 4 years ago on July 24, 2010. Since then, with the exception of one abandoned game in July 2012, Wimbledon have 'had the wood' over Reigate and have won the other six games.
When play started on time, despite early morning showers, there was hope in the air as Reigate padded up, having won the toss. The Priory was enjoying a stellar start to the season and some old Wimbledon stalwarts, such as opener Graham Grace, had hung up their bats and pads. Maybe 2014 was going to be Reigate's year.
But it took only 20 minutes to deduce that Reigate's fortunes against Wimbledon might not change in such a hurry, as first Tom Lister was bowled by Jack Snape for 14 at 17-1 and then, one run later, Chris Murtagh was judged leg before against Darren Hooey.
This brought New Zealander Craig Cachopa to the crease. Cachopa has been in rich form recently for Sussex 2nd XI with scores of 115 & 9 against Essex 2nd XI, 147 versus Kent 2nds in a 50-over game and a further 95 against Kent Seconds in a three-day game. However Cachopa has been unable to replicate such form with the Priory and despite two boundaries in a 30-minute stay, he was bowled by Neil Turk for 14.
At 52-3 Chris Benham, Wimbledon's captain, brought on Wimbledon's left-arm orthodox spinner James Bett, who had success first ball when Michael Burgess, Priory's wicketkeeper-batsman, edged behind for 1.
Henry Tye then joined Delmont, who had been patiently guarding his wicket at the other end, and the pair put on 43 together before Bett had his second success of the day having Tye leg before for 23 with the score at 95-5.
By now Tim Rawlinson was bowling off-spin from the Blue Anchor end and it was he who got the wicket Wimbledon wanted – that of obdurate opener Delmont who, uncharacteristically, was out stumped on the stroke of lunch. At 112-6, off 34 overs, the side was in trouble. Both umpires were reporting the ball was spinning 'square' off the wicket and after lunch Neil Saker and Simon King hunkered down against this spin as between them Bett and Rawlinson bowled 29 overs, 7 maidens and took 2 wickets (both to Bett) for 53 runs. Saker made 17 off 85 balls and King 9 off 48 balls as they fought to mount a defense.
It took Luke Beaven's 29 not out off 59 balls and Hodson's 20 off 32 balls to push the score to a semblance of respectability at 186-8 off the full 66 overs allowed. However the final run rate ended up at a lowly 2.82 per over. Wimbledon left-armer Bett, an overseas player from Australia, finished with 4-49 off 25 overs.
The Priory got off to a strong start as Wimbledon started their innings when first Saker had Turk caught by Beaven for 2 off the fifth ball of the innings and then, three overs later, Hodson had Turk's opening partner James Johnston leg before for 8.
While Wimbledon's number three bat Ben Compton defended resolutely (his first 44 balls brought only six singles in runs), new bat Chris Benham, the Wimbledon captain, hit a 4 off Hodson and a 6 off Saker to show his intent. The pair put on 48 in just under 18 overs before Benham was bowled by Beaven for 35.
Will Leith now joined Compton and as Compton eased up and started playing the shots more associated with his grandfather Dennis, Leith joined him in a partnership of 93 runs at 4.4 runs an over, that basically put the game to bed. Reigate's spinners were unable to gain the purchase Wimbledon's had done and Wimbledon's batsmen were playing the spin far better than Reigate had done.
By the time Leith was bowled by Saker for 44 off 58 balls at 151-4 and Compton was caught off Beaven for 68 at 163-5, Wimbledon were in cruise control and duly won without losing any more wickets with some 11 overs to spare.
