Catford & Cyphers Vs Old Colfeians.

Andre drives 3rds to victory.

Catford & Cyphers 3rd XI moved back to the top of South Thames league division 3 with an emphatic win over Old Colfeans on Saturday. Despite a shortage of players, due to other commitments or injury, the 8 wicket victory was wrapped up with an astonishing 33 overs to spare.

Mid table 'Colfs won the toss, and chose to bat on another good batting strip at KCCC Beckenham. With the 3rds missing 3 of their 4 usual strike bowlers, the bowling was opened by Andy Page and Curtley Browne.

Despite some good early pressure and wickets from Browne and Page the away side looked comfortable at 50-2. However the introduction of occasional bowler Yash Rangeneni quickly changed the game. Bowling with pace and accuracy, Yash moved through the middle order and finished with four wickets. Although 'Colfs retreated into defensive mode they continued to struggle due to some accurate bowling from Andy Page and the rare sighting of a couple of Galvin maidens.

The return of Browne junior to the attack helped bring the innings to a close, with Old Colfs' limping to 116 all out. Once again the benefit of a good bowling performance first up was demonstrated, despite missing Kuru, Anil and Ramesh. The ground fielding was excellent with James Golbey again standing out in the covers, despite badly injuring a finger. A couple of good catches from Ro at slip and Andre at point helped back up a solid bowling performance. By taking four wickets in the innings Andy Page moved on to 42 league wickets for the season, equalling the divisional record.

After a leisurely tea, the teams strolled over to far side of the ground. Ro Pratap and Richard Coles opened the batting and began a steady chase of the total. However, in the eighth over Richard followed a wide delivery and was caught behind. This brought to the wicket late call up Andre Ismail.

From this point on the pace of the game changed as Andre peppered the boundary with a number of well struck drives and pulls. One mighty six almost reached Copers Cope Road, and the Old Colfs' bowlers found it hard to peg him back. During this exhilarating flurry of runs Ro fell to an ambitious shot. Dave Sharp came to the wicket to enjoy the show, as Andre continued to pummel the opposition bowlers, punishing anything short and using his feet to unleash a flurry of driven boundaries.

By the 18th over, the game was finished and Andre had moved to 82 not out in just 10 overs. So a comprehensive victory, achieved well before the rain that blighted a number of other games came, sixteen points and a return to the top of the table.

Next week should see the return of a number of key players, most notably Laurie as skipper, however the performance of some of the teams more unsung players ensured that they return to a winning side.