Royal Enginers 204-8 off 40 overs
BB 207-2 off 32 overs
BB win
A beautiful day at Brampton Barracks saw the Band of Brothers take to the field against the Royal Engineers, with our hosts winning the toss and electing to bat first on a flat deck in Chatham.
Brother Pollington and Jack Meacher (Guest) bowled probing line and lengths, supported by an excellent fielding display and slick work behind the stumps from Fred Gregory. The Engineers reached 59 without loss, but struggled to pick up the pace thanks to Brother Eves (2-36) and Brother Regan’s challenging off-spin (2-30). As pressure built, wickets began to tumble, with Ben taking one of the all-time great BB catches. The ball was dragged down and given the appropriate treatment from their number 3. He absolutely nailed it towards the mid-wicket boundary, but Brother Regan had other ideas. Leaping high to his right, our 6ft 6 giant plucked the ball from the air and somehow held on. Remarkable scenes.
Excellent bowling from Brother Booker then helped us turn the screw, restricting our hosts to 204-8 from their 40 overs with figures of 3-44 and a brilliant direct hit run-out.
In reply, the Band of Brothers cruised to 207-2 thanks to a fine 102* from Matt Hammond, assisted by Tom Pollington who finished unbeaten on 50* and expertly blocked his final few deliveries to ensure Hammond reached his century. The pair were beautiful to watch, launching the ball to all corners of the ground in a fantastic partnership, taking he BB to victory with 8 overs to spare.
Thank you to the Royal Engineers for another cracking fixture, and to our umpire Mark Griffin and scorer Tim Redsell for ensuring the game ran smoothly.
