2nd XI vs Marlow

Sonning 2nd XI Fall Short Against Dominant Marlow Despite Khan's Late Resistance

Sonning 2nd XI suffered an 81-run defeat against Marlow in their Division 5B fixture at King George's Field on Saturday. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Marlow posted an imposing 211-4 from their 45 overs before dismissing the home side for 130.

Marlow's innings was built around two outstanding individual performances. Opener Mo Arabi showed tremendous patience and technique during his unbeaten 72 from 128 balls, while Oskar White delivered a scintillating century, reaching 101 not out from just 83 deliveries, including 17 boundaries and a six. The pair combined for a match-defining fifth-wicket partnership worth 177 runs.

Sonning's bowling attack struggled to contain the visitors in the latter stages of the innings, despite a disciplined spell from Ehtesham Azam who finished with figures of 1-25 from his nine overs. Hatib Khan was the most successful Sonning bowler, claiming 2-36, while the remainder of the attack went wicketless as White accelerated dramatically in the closing overs.

In response, Sonning's innings never gained momentum against a disciplined Marlow bowling attack led by Ishtiaq Khan, who finished with excellent figures of 4-25. Captain Robert Mosley was trapped early for just 4 runs from 29 deliveries, and despite brief resistance from Raoul Harding (19 from 7 balls including four boundaries), Sonning found themselves regularly losing wickets.

Robert Jones (10) and Ankit Sharma (17) attempted to rebuild with a 25-run partnership, but both fell to well-executed dismissals. Shenul Widanapathirana provided some middle-order resistance with 16, but Sonning slipped to 92-9 when John Rimmer was bowled without scoring.

The only significant partnership for Sonning came at the end when Aadil Khan launched a spirited counterattack with 30 runs from 24 balls, including three fours and two sixes. His efforts, alongside Hatib Khan (8 not out), added 38 for the final wicket before Aadil was caught off Ishtiaq Khan's bowling, ending Sonning's innings at 130 after 28.4 overs.

Jonathan Yarwood (2-26) and Will Peacock (2-29) provided excellent support to Ishtiaq Khan's four-wicket haul, as Marlow completed a comprehensive victory to strengthen their position in the Division 5B table.