Picture gallery: Cricket: High Roding bail out to champions Bentley

HIGH Roding went down to a defeat at the hand of league champions Bentley in the final game of the season on Saturday.

After winning the toss Roding elected to bat and had soon lost a wicket when Adam Holdgate holed out going for a big shot.

Reece Hussain, who has been Roding’s most prolific scorer, was then given out to a questionable decision, being caught in the slips after the umpires conferred.

His dad, Mel Hussain went on to score 32 before being bowled, and Travis Hussain scored 54. Orban Holdgate scored 32, Simon James 28, Nick Dawson 22, and Ryan Palmer 19 as Rodings were left on 233-9. It seemed like a half-decent notch, although the inninngs needed to have exceeded 250 to give the hosts a chance.

Bentley, full of players who have progressed through their Colts section, showed just how good a side they are, with their spot-on fielding depriving Roding of the extra runs required.

And the visitors were never really in trouble with their batting keeping up with the run rate.

They reached their target with three overs to spare with the loss of seven wickets.

For Roding, Simon James took 3-43, Mel Hussain 2-43 and Angus Burns 2-45.

The result means High Roding finish in third place in the table – not the best of seasons but there is reason to be optimistic for next season with several young players to come through.