Singh and Derham on song in Horley win

Horley got their first win of the Surrey Division Four East season on the board, beating Croydon by six wickets. Horley skipper Regan Derham elected to bowl first, with rain forecast throughout the day at Horley Row.

With Will Taylor expected to arrive ten minutes late, thankfully Andrew Burbidge was on hand to sub in and save Horley having to start with ten men, and he played his part, taking a catch off Charlie Robins (1-43) at mid-on at the end of the sixth over, to dismiss Yash Agarwal (22), who had got Croydon off to a flying start.

Vikranth T (29) and Anupam Vivek Toppo settled the ship after that early loss, scoring at a good rate, due to good shot selection and some wayward bowling. Taylor found Horley’s next breakthrough in his second over, Vikranth edging behind and Anthony Puttick doing the rest.

At 88-2 after 15, Croydon kept going well, with Vishal Yadav Cipiri (37) coming out to join Anupam. Skipper Derham had introduced spin to the game, in the form of Aidan Spalding, to try to put a squeeze on. He was bowling well, but Anupam and Vishal were still finding ways to move the score along. Adam Stephenson joined his spin twin in the attack and, after a bad start to the 27th over, with his first two balls disappearing for four and six respectively, Vishal went for one shot too many and was stumped by Puttick.

Although Horley still felt well in the game at 153-3, Croydon were definitely in the driving seat, with Anupam having passed 50 and looking in the mood to double that score.

Horley were working relentlessly to save every run they could and got their reward in the 36th over with Spalding (3-50) returning. The young spinner found two in two balls to shift momentum in Horley’s favour. He wouldn’t have to wait long for another, clean bowling Shreyash Sonawane in his next over, reducing Croydon to 207-6.

Unfortunately for Horley, Anupam was still there and looked set for three figures, as with the help of Mayank Kedia (29), he was knocking singles around with ease.

With six overs of the innings left, Derham threw the ball to 14-year-old Tom Jowett and he claimed the scalp of Anupam, just five short of his century. Stephenson (2-44) then had Kedia caught at the start of the 48th, and the returning Taylor (3-42) wrapped up the innings in the following over with another wicket caught behind, followed by a searing yorker to leave Croydon 256 all out (49 overs).

Horley felt that Croydon had left plenty of runs out there and were keen to keep the momentum in their favour. Guy Derham (31) was a key factor in making this happen, crashing the first ball of Horley’s innings to the cover boundary. He was partnered by Sam Remfry (25) who calmly knocked the ball into gaps whilst Guy Derham was bludgeoning it to all parts of the ground when he could, until Croydon made an early change to spin, and Mayank Kedia found a way through his defences in his first over.

CP Singh joined Remfry but, the pair wouldn’t last too long together. Raju Reddy had Remfry well caught at slip in the 13th, with Horley only adding 12 runs, to make it 66-2.

Regan Derham (69 not out) was the next in, and it was vital for him and Singh to spend time at the crease, as both had match-winning capabilities in their locker. The skipper struggled a little early on but Singh looked to be in imperious form, picking off runs with ease. The pair brought up Horley’s 100 at the end of the 19th over, and their 50 partnership not long after that.

At the halfway mark, Horley were 123-2. Singh reached 50 shortly after drinks, then seemed to hit another gear and looked set to score big. The pair brought up another milestone, reaching their 100 partnership, with Singh scoring 79 of those. However, at 169-2, Vishal Vadav Cipiri found the massive wicket of the Horley overseas player, caught at short third man for 86 (67 balls, 12 sixes).

Regan Derham now needed to be the glue for Horley if they wanted to get close to Croydon’s 256. Another 30 runs were added before Richard Waddington was run out coming back for a second.

Puttick (24 not out) joined his skipper in the middle, with Horley needing 57 off 66 balls. The pair were dealing with the pressure perfectly, picking off singles and adding in the odd boundary here and there to creep their way towards the target.

Croydon were chopping and changing bowlers, but nothing seemed to be working. The Horley duo were too composed at the crease, with Puttick wrapping the game up with the big straight six down the ground to claim 20 points for Horley.

With their first win under their belt, the games don’t get any easier for Horley, as next week they travel away to Reigate Priory 2nd XI (12 noon), who finished one place and four points behind fourth-placed Horley in the table last year.

Horley 2nd XI completed a composed run chase against Warlingham to win their Division Eight East match by five wickets.

An aggressive unbeaten half-century from Ryan Bunn saw them home, after Horley’s bowlers had set the scene for the win, dismissing Warlingham for 147 in 37.3 overs.

Skipper Toby Davie put the home side in and Ollie Holman took a wicket with the third ball, then Ryan Smith took one in the second over. The  third-wicket partnership lasted ten overs but was broken when Smith (2-17 from eight overs) bowled skipper Chetun Patel.

Irfaan Baksh (3-26) picked up the next three wickets, with Shrey Vaid and Kieran Childs taking catches, then Will Hofmann (4-21) ripped through the remaining batters, taking four wickets in the space of 2.3 overs, including Dhiren Patel caught by Davie for 82.

Warlingham struck early in Horley’s reply, with Kush Patel removing Andrew Thomas lbw for 5, before Chetun Patel trapped Davie lbw for 4 to leave Horley under pressure in the opening overs.

Dean Martin attempted to steady the innings with 11 from 21 balls, including a boundary, but Kayun Patparasa claimed his wicket to keep Warlingham in the contest. Patparasa struck again shortly afterwards, dismissing Vaid lbw for a duck and reducing Horley to 57-4.

Childs had been providing resistance and he and Bunn put on 77 for the fifth wicket before Childs was run out by Dhiren Patel, having scored a patient 25 from 59 deliveries, finding the boundary three times.

Bunn was counter-attacking brilliantly to take the game away from Warlingham. He finished unbeaten on 58 from just 53 balls at an impressive strike rate of 109.43, striking eight boundaries.

He was well supported at the end by Baksh, who was not out on seven as the pair guided Horley safely to victory in the 29th over.

Horley entertain Merstham at Horley Row next Saturday (12 noon).

Horley 3rd XI were thwarted by the weather for the second time this season as they lost a rain-shortened Sussex Division Ten West match at Findon.

Opting to bowl first on the artificial wicket, Horley made breakthroughs in the fourth and fifth overs as Dave Childs held a good catch on the move off Alex Field to dismiss John Cox, whose son Lewis Cox then followed him off in the next over, caught behind by Oscar Davies off Dan Sired.

Field picked up his second wicket in the 12th over with the score on 64, this time caught by Sired, but Motiur Rahman and Tim Corcoran then put on 72 for the fourth wicket to put Findon in a commanding position. Rahman sustained an injury and Lewis Cox came back out to the middle to run for him, but the partnership continued unhindered past the mid-point of the innings.

Horley’s bowling was a bit inconsistent, producing a mix of dot balls and fours, as – with short boundaries on either side of the wicket – Findon punished the bad balls. The fielding was also below par, not helped by an uneven outfield and a biting diagonal wind chilling the fielders’ hands.

The slow-bowling partnership of Justin Moutinho and Childs managed to slow the scoring rate and after a chance was put down off Moutinho in the 22nd over, Sired’s safe hands caught Corcoran off the same bowler two overs later, on the square leg boundary.

Horley were still making hard work of it and Findon reached 179-4 at 30 overs. Rahman celebrated his 50 in the 31st, only to see Dylan Ramsden caught by Davies off Childs next ball.

The visitors were rediscovering their mojo and Moutinho (2-53) took his second wicket, lbw, in the 34th over before more smart keeping from Davies gave Childs (2-42) his second in the 35th, as their nine-over spells came to an end.

Rahman was finally dismissed in the 38th over, bowled by Field (3-52) for 67 (95 balls, nine fours) and Findon finished their 40 overs on 239-8.

That is a below-par score on Findon’s small ground, so Horley were hopeful of winning, despite the forecast rain. However, Sophie Whittington (3-37) took the wind out of their sails early on, removing openers Matt Ware and Dan Farmer, both caught and bowled.

Abhas Bhardwaj fell victim to the same bowler in the ninth over, pulling the ball to Ramsden. Sired joined skipper Rob Rigby in the middle and took nine off the 11th over but then top-edged a catch to Rahman off Ramsden in the 12th.

Horley were well behind the expected DLS target at drinks and with rain clouds looming, Rigby and Field knew they had a tough task to put their team in a winning position. Rigby, having been dropped several times, had ridden his luck to reach 40 – including eight fours – but was then bowled off the last ball of the 21st over. Two overs later heavy rain forced the players off and the match was abandoned shortly afterwards, with Horley on 116-5 and Field 26 not out (36 balls, four fours).

Next Saturday, Horley 3rd XI entertain Wisborough Green (1pm), who also have one win from their first three matches.