RICHARD Oliver returned to the fold with a match-winning run-a-ball 93 runs on Saturday as Reigate Priory edged Beckenham by three runs in a tense finish at an ever-darkening Park Lane ground.
Oliver also was involved in the last over run out of Jonny Darke of Beckenham as Priory youngster Connor Newbold held his nerve bowling his offbreaks in the gathering gloom of an April evening to deny Beckenham the ten runs they needed for victory in that final over.
Those who saw Oliver play for the Priory in 2012 might remember his is not the Boycottian approach to batting with an opener's obdurate defense. Rather he makes it all seem very easy, languid even. Yes, he does block the ball. But then showing superb timing and hand-eye co-ordination he will pick up the ball and almost flick it towards the boundary. It's an approach that works well for him and this 93 included five 6's and nine 4's.
When Oliver was out in the 29th over, caught in the deep, at 140-4, he had scored at three times the rate of his three partners who had fallen before him. Indeed in a partnership of 101 with Ali Raja, Raja scored 12 runs off 46 balls while Oliver made 76 runs off 67 balls.
With Oliver gone, it was left to Will Irving to marshal the middle order such that 140-4 off 28.2 overs turned into 240-7 off 50 overs. First, Irving and skipper Neil Saker put on 45 in an 11 over partnership as Saker (27 runs off 33 balls) made runs for the second week running. Then Irving partnered Chris Wigley in a 38-run partnership before Irving was caught and bowled for a tidy 43 off 58 balls.
The return of Will Hodson to the Priory opening attack brought immediate control and stability from the previous week at Sevenoaks. Hodson's first seven overs went for 19 runs. Meanwhile, Saker picked up the wicket of Beckenham opener Alex Senn for 16 at 30-1, thanks to a sharp slip catch by Oliver. Then in Saker's next over, new batsman James McCulloch slashed hard only for Henry Tye at backward point to hold on to this blistering shot at the second attempt.
Beckenham captain and opener Chris Isles and Pakistani professional Razza Ali Dar then put on 44 in 12 overs before Steven Hirst, brought on as first change, got rid of the dangerous Isles for 32, with the score at 74-3, thanks to a fine catch by Tom Lister.
Ali Dar, who plays for the Lahore Lions, was then joined by Max Hall who recently has moved to the Kent side from Sunbury. These two put on 54 in just over 13 overs before Hall was caught by Hodson in the deep off Hirst for 30. Ali Dar was soon out, caught by Raja off Saker for a top score of 35. But it had taken him 76 balls to get there and at 152-5 in the 35th over, the Kent side needed 99 more runs to win at an asking rate of 6.32 an over.
However 25 off 25 balls from wicketkeeper David Draper, 40 not out in 48 balls from number seven bat Jason Bilimoria and 16 in 15 balls from Junaid Nadir took Beckenham within sight of the finishing line, before that tight final over from Newbold saw the Priory home as winners by three runs.
While Newbold (10 overs for 58 runs) and Oliver (four overs for 30 runs) took some tap, the Priory bowlers stuck to their task well with Toby Briggs (eight overs for 23 runs) the meanest of the six bowlers used and Saker (3-41) and Hirst (2-39) picking up most of the wickets.
