Holmesdale 2nd XI took their match with Bexley 2nd XI right to the wire on Saturday, before succumbing to defeat by 25 runs on a beautiful day at Montreal Park. Holmesdale lost the toss and were made to field, but got off to a great start, with Linfield picking up opener Griggs without scoring. In came, Bexley skipper Abbas who proceeded to play a wonderfully controlled innings of 117*, while the Holmesdale bowlers produced anything but control and consistency.
The Bryant brothers, Mike (1-33) and Harry (0-47), were the only two bowlers to apply any sort of real pressure during the innings, which meant that Bexley finished on 272-3 from their allotted 50 overs.
Holmesdale got off to a flying start with the returning Jack Hulston (32) and Max Melbourn (23) punishing anything over-pitched. Mike Bryant (30) and Holliday (28) also got starts at three and four, but nobody made a really telling contribution until Mike Brown (63) entered the game. Once again, Brown glued the Holmesdale innings together, but he fell to an incredible catch on the boundary and it was going to be an almighty ask to win once he had departed.
Harry Bryant (15), McCann (18) and Linfield (15) gave it a go, but in the end they came up short, finishing on 247 all out.
