The Vine 4th XI travelled to Dartford to play their 4th XI. The toss was lost and Vine were asked to bat first.

Will Deacon & Mark Poole opened the batting and made steady progress against an all spin attack. Deacon fell for 13 when an attempted sweep was top edged to short fine leg. A change in bowling saw Poole go on the attack and after going 4-4-2 he got a leading edge to mid wicket for 24. This brought Read father & son together. Daniel Read was next to go LBW & son Hugo soon followed. At 51-4 Ollie Rajah was joined by Stuart Sims as a rebuild was needed. Sims however had different ideas and there was a brief pause in play after he hit a huge 6 down the ground, causing a mass search for the ball before it was concluded it had actually gone out of the ground into the road. Sims soon departed for 11 bringing Eddie Johnson to the crease who looked very comfortable against the leg spin before nicking one behind and departing for 7. James Thresher joined Rajah at 87-6 from 28 overs. The two of them batted superbly adding 68 in 9 overs before Rajah was run out for an excellent 56. Matt Dickerson joined the fray and helped Thresher get us to 164-7 from our 40 overs.

After an excellent & well received tea, Vine took to the field and started superbly. Thresher and young Campbell South opened the bowling, both starting with maidens and bowling with real pace and swing. South was particularly impressive, starting with 3 maidens, bowling with real pace and in-swing and causing plenty of problems for the batters. He was rewarded with his first wicket in his 4th over. After 10 overs, Ollie Rajah & Stuart Sims came on to bowl, both again bowling with good pace. Rajah quickly struck in his 2nd over and again just before drinks, leaving Dartford at 70-3 at the break. After drinks Matt Dickerson was brought on and bowled superbly with great control & variety. His 2-25 from 9 overs meant the required run rate was going up & up. But the Dartford opener was still in & batting well. Rajah finished his spell of 8 overs 2-22 and Thresher returned. He started superbly with a wicket maiden bowling the dangerous Dartford opener for 52 and putting the Vine firmly in control. His next over was also a wicket maiden and him & Dickerson ensured the run rate was going up & up very quickly. His 2nd spell of 4 overs was 2-2. Campbell South returned and again bowled with good pace & control. With 3 overs left Dartford needed 45 to win. A few desperate shots and edges left them 30 to win off the final over which Will Deacon bowled with great execution to ensure a 24 run win.

A great win for the 4th XI with a superb bowling & fielding display.