11:06am Tuesday 24th August 2010
Cheam moved to the brink of promotion to the Surrey Championship Premier Division with a six-wicket win which has left long-time leaders Spencer trailing in third in the table.
One more victory from two games will guarantee Cheam promotion and they are just a point behind leaders Normandy in the table.
Spencer skipper Neil Baker elected to bat first and opener Andrew Mawson attempted to set the tone by pulling Steve Clark’s first ball to the boundary.
But, four balls later, he was out trying to repeat the shot and the ball flew to mid-on.
The Cheam opening attack continued to put Spencer under pressure with Clark (3-27) and Lee Harrison (2-38) making great inroads.
But it was a sensational piece of fielding from Chris Salmons who cut the ball off inches from the boundary and a powerful 70-yard throw hit the stumps catching Hugo Darby out of his ground.
Pierre Jason top-scored with 46 but Danny Miller and Salmons continued the excellent work with the ball as Spencer were all out for 123 from just 35.1 overs.
Miller then set about the Spencer attack in frenzied fashion by taking 23 off the first four overs.
When Miller was out, trying to sweep Jimmy Birt into the road, David Houpapa took over hitting a fine 59 not out from just 48 balls, making 10 boundaries, as Cheam reached their target in 22 overs.
Cheam host relegation-threatened Purley this Saturday.
Cheam seconds kept their title hopes alive with an easy victory over Old Wimbledonians setting up a crunch match with top of the table Purley. A victory for Kevin Brown’s men would take the title chase to the final weekend.
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