Beckenham B1’s sixth game of the season started with another won toss. Harrison was clearly getting the hang of this and chose to bat first against a Bromley Common side at Foxgrove Road. Openers Struan and Albert struggled against Bromley Common’s new ball bowlers, and after three overs, both had been dismissed, Struan (0 from 3) fell in the fast over without scoring, and Albert (0 from 8) similarly at the end of the third over. Job almost complete again though, three of the most dangerous six overs had been negotiated.

Jack got a single from the first ball of the fourth over, and Harrison played out the remainder without troubling the scorers, leaving Beckenham looking a little precarious at 14/2 after four. Like so many sides in this division though, and unlike Beckenham, the top three or fours bowlers and batters are very strong, and the remainder fall off very quickly in standard, and more stability was restored with the advent of less challenging bowling. The score moved relatively smoothly to 53/2 after ten, with Harrison providing the anchor to allow Jack to play more aggressively around him. Jack retired on 26 (from 23) at the end of the 11th over, with 15 coming from it. Serene progress continued with Harrison quietly supporting new batter Tim before retiring in the 14th over with the score on 98/2. A relatively calm innings from Harrison, taking 40 balls to reach 27, but capably finishing the job of seeing off almost all (15) of the 18 deliveries from the opening three bowlers where another wicket could have spelled disaster.

Tim continued scoring freely, retiring after 23 balls for his unbeaten 27, just after the dismissal of Krishan-Raj (5 from 11), which left Beckenham on 128/3 from 18 overs. Jamie and Laura arrived fresh to the crease to face the return of the opening bowlers. Both players tried to slog, but despite running byes and wides well, Laura was out without scoring (from 3). This brought Captain Chaos, Henry Pates to the crease to face the final over. What followed were two of the most remarkable shots I’ve ever seen. Twelve runs came from the last, including two boundaries to Henry where he literally launched himself in the air to dive for the ball, connecting with his bat and sending the ball flying down to a wide third man. Jamie finished on 1* from 2, and Henry an astonishing 9* from 7, with Beckenham setting a big target at Foxgrove of 146 for Bromley Common to win.

Opening with a spinner has worked well recently, and Krishan-Raj’s tight line proved again difficult to get away. An equally good line and length followed from Ellie to leave Bromley Common on 6/0. Hugo bowled the third – 13/0. The fireworks started in Ellie’s second over, snaring both openers to leave the opposition in trouble at 22/2 from four. Hugo took a wicket with his second and after five overs, Bromley Common were 29/3 with the most dangerous batters all gone.

Four overs of relative calm followed, but with the score on 57/3 from 9, Jack came on to bowl. Some excellent line and length came with devastating effect. A single from the first ball of the over, then bang, bang, bang, a hat trick, all bowled. 2 came from Krishan-Raj’s second over, and then Jack was back again, and after three more dots balls got another wicket, bowled! The Bromley Common umpire, who claimed he’d never given an LBW before in a match, stuck his finger in the air for a second time in ten overs to leave Jack on a possible second hat trick in two overs. The final ball of the over was safely negotiated, but the damage was done. The opposition had been reduced to 64/8 from 12 overs. Albert picked up the ninth wicket and Jamie wrapped up the innings. Game over.

Wickets were taken by Jack (2 overs, one maiden, 5 wickets for 5 runs), Ellie (2-0-2-12), Hugo (2-0-1-13) and Jamie (1.2-0-1-1).

A wonderfully constructed innings from Harrison, a slightly less subtle retirement from Tim, and some very consistent bowling from everyone all came close, but Jack’s five-for and hat trick takes the Player of the Match award for this week. Congratulations Jack – a memorable night.