Lightning and a torrential shower cut short Reigate Priory's bid for victory Saturday against Spencer as the players left the field with ten overs and two balls to go with the Priory needing just 22 more runs to win, with four wickets in hand.
The 'winning draw' gives Reigate four points and keeps them on top of the Premier Division table after 10 games with 83 points, still maintaining that 23 point margin of safety over second-placed Wimbledon.
The Priory had bowled Spencer out for 238 with Luke Beaven taking 6-68 from a marathon unbroken spell of 24.2 overs. In reply Reigate were 217-6 with four batsmen making scores of 40 or higher – Jason Roy 54, Chris Murtagh 49, Craig Cachopa 44 and Henry Tye 40 not out.
On what for the most part was a glorious summer's day in southwest London, Spencer batted first, opener Hugo Darby top-scoring with 54 and Sri Lankan Krishna Sivakumaran making 48.
Several dropped catches, and a missed run out - none of them particularly easy - meant Reigate were in the field longer than they might have been. The 20-year-old Darby, who has played for Durham MCCU and made 99 on debut for Oxfordshire earlier this season, was dropped on 18 (at 37-1) and 40 (at 72-2), while Sivakumaran enjoyed 'lives' at scores of 21 (at 93-2) and 26 (at 98-2).
After a long opening spell of 12 overs from Will Hodson, during which he picked up the wickets of Billingham and Baumann for 36 runs, bowling duties were shared by Steven Hirst, back in the side because of injury to Robbie Williams, Luke Beaven and Simon King. But despite those chances, no more wickets fell before lunch, taken after 35 overs at 111-2.
It was Hirst who got rid of both danger men early in the afternoon session. The first to go was Darby for 54 at 126-3 in an unfortunate fashion as he hit the ball onto the back of his partner's bat, causing the ball to pop up in the air for Hirst to take the caught and bowled. Four overs later Sivakumaran was caught at deep midwicket by Hodson for 48, also off Hirst, at 139-4.
Luke Beaven, bowling at the Tooting end, initially was performing a containing role during the 70-run Darby-Sivakumaran partnership. But once he got his first wicket in his 16th over (Chris Lomas caught in the deep by Hodson again for nought) at 149-5, then the wickets fell with regularity. There were flurries from later order batsmen – Spencer captain and wicketkeeper Neil Baker making 29 in 20 balls and George Edwards, the Surrey fast bowler, 17 in 19 balls – but Beaven owned the stage with additional wickets in his 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd and 25th over to end up with six wickets for 68 runs as Spencer folded for 225 all out.
Reigate lost Andrew Delmont early in their reply for nought as the Australian opener was well caught by Darby at square leg from the fifth ball of the innings bowled by former Surrey and England fast bowler Alex Tudor. However Chris Murtagh joined Jason Roy, the Surrey T20 opener in the best partnership of the day – 91 runs off 18.1 overs.
Roy's innings was beautifully crafted and by his standards a measured affair as he hit seven 4's (but no 6's) in his 54 runs off 51 balls. He was caught at short extra cover off the bowling of Jonathan Speller. Murtagh, struggling a little of late with form, made a brave 49 off 93 balls before being caught behind off Edwards.
Roy's demise brought Cachopa, now a Sussex professional cricketer, to the crease and immediately he looked at sixes and sevens. His second ball from 19-year-old spinner Gus Grant popped up between the two short legs fielders, but was not caught. His fourth ball likewise popped up close to the wicket, but fortunately no fielder was close. When Cachopa was dropped on the boundary by Sivakumaran in Grant's next over, the Kiwi (now on 9 off 19 balls) decided to 'get some runs before I was out'. So when Grant's next over arrived Cachopa hit him for a 4, a 6 and a 6 in the first three balls of the over with a further 6 to follow in Grant's following over. When Cachopa fell to a catch in the deep by Edwards off the left-arm spin of Peter Walters he had made a quick-fire run-a-ball 44 and his partnership with Murtagh was worth 58 runs.
Reigate, now at 150-3 lost two more quick wickets (Murtagh and then Burgess caught behind off Walters for 6) and at 167-5 victory was by no means looking guaranteed. But Tye staunched the flow firstly in partnership with Saker (6 off 15 balls) to take Reigate to 185-6 and then more profitably with Beaven (9 not out after 13 balls) to take the score to 217-6 before nearby lightening forced the players from the field. Tye made 40 not out off 44 balls.
Reigate by now were looking on course for a straightforward win and had enjoyed yet another excellent bowling performance from Beaven with batting honours shared by the four batsmen. But when the lightening led to torrential rain and an early end to the game, the team was forced to contemplate the 'what might have beens' had they held difficult chances in the field.
