The wet weather relented for all sides to be in action on Saturday and Sunday.
Apart from th
e 3’s, Saturday was a wash-out result wise!
The 1st XI travelled to Sandwich and for once lost the toss and were invited to bat.
Gareth Severin continued his fine season with a knock of 67 but finding partners to stay with him proved Hayes’s downfall. Tom Gallagher with 35 helped steady the innings but with his dismissal the innings petered out and finished on 189.
On a small pitch the Hayes score never looked enough and so it proved with Sandwich coasting home in the 42nd over.
Scott Gallagher with 2-37 and Alfie Peck with 3-33 were the pick of the bowlers – Alfie giving a taste of what was to come the following day!
The table topping 2nd XI played host to second place Frindsbury – a fixture that was a regular in the 1970’s when Hayes played in the old South Thames League.
Invited to field first, the bowlers excelled with Dammika Silva (1-21), Tom Davis (3-22) and best of all Joel Couldrey (4-26) saw the visitors restricted to 164.
Hayes got off to a steady start in their reply, but with the dismissal of openers Liam Vallois (27) and Miguel Barbosa (19), the innings began to unravel.
Joel Couldrey (17) and young Joe Bradshaw (20) tried to steady matters but with their demise, the reply stumbled to 120 all out – a drop of 2 places in the table but still all to play for in the final stages of the season.
The 3’s hosted Beckenham on The Meadow with Beckenham electing to bat.
Opening bowlers Leo Webster and Will Hadley picked up wickets – as did Ted Wilkie and Ronnie Buddin, with Johnny Wilkie being the pick with a brace as Beckenham reached 164-9 in their 40overs.
Keith Jackson (14) and Adam Greenway (30) rolled back the years, but it was a fine 55 from Samuel Aylwin that got Hayes to the cusp of a fine victory as Hayes got home in the 37th over.
Beckenham are league leaders and with the table bunching up, Hayes are with in touching distance of the leaders with 5 to play.
The 4’s travelled to play Beckenham on a park pitch and the match lived upto expectations with not many runs scored!
The bowlers were on top as Beckenham batted first – Sam Carter being the pick with 3-11, David Tappenden and Marcus Browne with 2 each and Ollie Molsher and Luke Jones with a wicket each saw Beckenham despatched for 86.
Despite 13 from Jeremy Browne and 17 from Ollie Molsher, batting proved tough and Hayes fell 19 short, being bowled out for 67.
Sunday saw the 1st XI visit Minster for the Quarter Finals of the T20 Cup – a tournament Hayes won last season.
Minster elected to bat first and Hayes got off to an excellent start as Will MacVicar took a wicket with the first ball of the game.
Stuart Eddicott followed up with another quick wicket and with wickets continuing to fall regularly, Hayes bowled and fielded terrifically. Stuart finishing with 2-21, Will 1-27, Scott Gallagher a fine spell of 1-16 and Alfie Peck taking 3-24.
Minster finished on 127-7 in their 20 overs.
A steady start from Gareth Severin (16) and Scott Gallagher (10) followed up by 21 and 22 from Will MacVicar and Tom Gallagher saw Hayes progress well – but with the loss of a few quick wickets, nerves began to bite and a straightforward win was now in doubt.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man and Alfie Peck strode to the wicket determined to see Hayes home – Joel Couldrey joined him and the Hayes support watched on nervously.
Alfie crashed a boundary to relive the pressure and then finished the match with a mighty 6!
A great win for the Cup holders and Finals Day now awaits – August 20th at Hayes!
The Development side, shorn of those playing at Minster, travelled to Blackheath, in a game played in the drizzle.
Batting first Samuel Aylwin (34) and Johnny White proved the pick of the batsmen as Hayes struggled – finishing all out for 112.
Blackheath knocked-off the runs in 19 overs for the loss of 2 wickets – Johnny White and Ben Manners taking the wickets.
Well done to those who made the journey.
Sunday was the highlight of the weekend – a terrific win at Minster and a Finals Day at Home!
