Peppard Stoke Row fall short in friendly

PEPPARD STOKE ROW slipped to a 19-run defeat at home to CHECKENDON in their seasonal curtain-raiser on Sunday.

After the game with Cookham Dean the day before had to be called off following the heavy rain at the back of the week, Peppard Stoke Row bowled first at the Les Clark Oval under cloudy skies and with not too much warmth in the air.

On a green wicket, Scott Harris and Hamish Scott took the new ball, but it was U16 Owen Simmons (1-19 off five overs) who made the initial breakthrough, bowling Jim Warren for 18.

Next to fall was Matt Heslop, bowled by 12-year-old left arm spinner Connor Lamsdale’s (1-32) first ball of the afternoon, before Manpreet Singh (61) and Mayank Kedia (43) accelerated with a flurry of boundaries.

The introduction of Oxfordshire spinner Chris Humphreys (2-34) ended Singh’s knock and provided Humphreys with his 150th Peppard Stoke Row wicket. He made it 151 when Amol Tyagi (36) was caught by Scott.

Harris returned to remove Kedia and run outs from Scott and Ian Preedy meant Checkendon closed their 30 overs on 176-7.

Tyagi and Alex Podolski bowled economical spells as Peppard Stoke Row lost Suresh Sukul and Pradeep Kumar cheaply, but father-and-son Andy and Daniel Watts steadied the ship efficiently.

Andy Watts eventually guided a Sathia Jobe delivery to Warren at slip to depart for 51, while the same bowler accounted for Daniel for 46.

Two further wickets fell in quick succession before Harris (27 not out) and Lamsdale (14 not out) tried to get the hosts over the line, but they eventually fell short on 157-6.

Peppard Stoke Row continue their pre-season with a home game against Eversley tomorrow (Saturday), before their Unicorns side welcome ISIS to the Les Clark Oval on Sunday, with the Maharajahs travelling to Moreton for a Twenty20 match.