3rd XI v NPL 3rd XI

Fleming Leads the Way as Sonning Post 153 at The Lab

Alexander Fleming's composed 39 was the backbone of Sonning 3rd XI's innings at The Lab, where Jameel Ahamed won the toss and chose to bat against NPL on the final Saturday of August.

The start was not straightforward. Sonning lost their first wicket with only two on the board and were quickly two down, leaving Shamitha Widanapathirana to steady things in the company of Bikash Gurung. The pair added 46 for the third wicket, Widanapathirana batting with care for 27 from 56 balls and Gurung offering solid support with 17 before the stand was broken at 57.

NPL kept the screw on through the middle of the innings. Jesus Brito was miserly throughout his eight overs, conceding just 18, while M Watkins found enough movement to finish with three wickets from his nine. With wickets falling at regular intervals either side of the halfway mark, the visitors needed someone to bat through, and Fleming settled in to do exactly that.

His partnership with wicketkeeper Matthew Calhoum was worth 42 and took the score to 106. Calhoum's 16 was the product of 35 patient deliveries, the sort of contribution that does not catch the eye on a scorecard but buys time for the batters to come.

Fleming then found an ally in Mark Lilley, and the seventh-wicket stand of 43 was the most productive passage of the afternoon. Lilley played with freedom, striking two boundaries in an unbeaten 20, while Fleming continued to work the ball into the gaps. When Fleming was bowled for 39, having faced 65 balls, Sonning had reached 149 and the platform was set.

Lilley saw the innings home alongside Arun Kumar Pera, who struck three quick runs at the death, and Sonning closed on 153 for 7 from their 40 overs. Nineteen extras added usefully to the total, and the innings ran at just under four an over on a surface that never made scoring easy.

There was encouragement in the individual returns too. Widanapathirana's 27 took him past 570 runs for the club this season, a considerable haul across a busy summer, while Fleming's 39 was among his better efforts in a year that has seen him turn out more than twenty times for Sonning.