"WE HAD no right to win that game," admitted skipper Neil Saker after Reigate Priory's narrow victory over Sutton on Saturday.
At 87-6 while chasing 217, the odds looked stacked against the Llamas, but Saker rolled the dice, putting his money on a star turn with the bat from new recruit Ali Raja and top wicket taker Luke Beaven. It was a move that paid dividends with Beaven scoring 26 and Raja clocking an unbeaten 86 from just 87 balls to help Priory up to 218-7.
"I think that was the best innings, the best run chase, that I've been part of," Saker said. "For someone like Ali, who probably hasn't played as much for the first time as he would have liked, to come in and play the way he did was unbelievable. He won us the game. I can't speak highly enough of his performance.
"We weren't doing fantastically, and in the position we are in, I would have rather taken a risk and lost the game than accept a losing draw. So I had a word with Ali and Luke and gave the nod that they should go for it and put their foot down, and they did."
