23/08/2026
Saints Hold Their Nerve Against the Plums - 2nd XI - Saturday 22 August
There are some cricket matches where the story starts long before the first ball is bowled. Saturday’s meeting between St Andrews (Burgess Hill) 2nd XI and Plumpton & East Chiltington 2nd XI was very much one of those.
For starters, Kyle Jones, one of the Saints’ usual opening bowlers, managed to pull a muscle getting his bag out of the car. Not quite the preparation we had in mind.
Then, with the Saints suddenly a man short, Darren Woods — who had originally arrived to umpire and support Jack — donned the whites and made his first appearance for the 2nd XI in 17 years. And, rather wonderfully, Darren looked as though he’d never been away, producing an excellent fielding performance and making several important stops.
Quite the comeback.
The Saints won the toss and elected to field, and the opening exchanges were very much in St Andrews’ favour.
Veera Padala opened the bowling and made the first breakthrough, while Karthik Harikumar (8-3-27-2) was threatening throughout, constantly asking questions and picking up two wickets. Vignesh Udayarani (9-2-26-0) then bowled nine straight overs, keeping the pressure firmly on the Plumpton batters.
With the Plums reduced to 4-2, the Saints were well on top. But Plumpton dug in.
Glyn Wells and Harry Dunne (19) began to rebuild the innings, with Wells reaching a well-made 50. The partnership dragged the Plums away from trouble and gradually turned a difficult start into a competitive position.
Jack Barton then came into the attack. It wasn’t his finest spell with the ball, but Jack certainly knew where the wickets were. His very first ball brought a wicket, and he would go on to pick up two more, finishing with 3-43.
Jack Woods (8-0-48-2) also claimed two wickets as the Saints continued to chip away at the Plumpton batting.
Veera returning for his second spell and picked up another important wicket, finishing with 2-38 and completing a valuable all-round contribution.
But the Plums had saved something for the closing stages.
Christopher Turner (44) and Phil Ashworth (34) launched a late flurry, finding the boundary regularly and pushing the total towards 200 before the Saints finally closed things down.
Plumpton finished on 194-9 from their 40 overs. An impressive recovery from 4-2.
There was also a rather curious subplot developing during the innings. In what can only be described as an unfortunate afternoon for the Plumpton gentlemen, three of the Plums’ batters were struck in the plums.
And because apparently once wasn’t enough, one of those unfortunate souls was then struck in exactly the same place again while fielding.
They were certainly living up to their name.
The Saints’ chase began with Iain Murray opening the innings, and if ever there was a day for a calm head, this was it.
Playing only his second game of the season, Iain produced an excellent 55 from 87 balls, holding the innings together while wickets fell at the other end.
Sam Kirwan (11) went first, followed by Roberto Amati (1). Jack Barton (25) and Josh Jones (3) then departed, and when Iain finally fell, the Saints were 99-5.
There were 96 still required from 75 balls. It was, to put it mildly, rather tense.
And then Veera Padala walked in.
He had already contributed with the ball. Now he decided he would take responsibility for the other half of the job.
What followed was one of the innings of the Saints’ season.
Veera smashed an unbeaten 66 from just 33 balls, with six fours and four sixes, racing along at a scarcely believable 200 strike rate.
The required rate began to disappear rather rapidly.
Four here. Six there. And suddenly a chase that had looked distinctly awkward at 99-5 was beginning to look rather more comfortable.
Harikumar Gopalan Nair (15) provided useful support before departing, and Jack Woods (12*) then joined Veera for the final stages.
There was no late drama. No last-over nonsense. Just Veera continuing to find the boundary and Jack doing precisely what was required at the other end. The Saints reached 198-6 in 38.3 overs, winning by four wickets with nine balls to spare.
There were plenty of contributors.
Karthik was threatening throughout. Viggy bowled nine straight overs. Jack Woods took two wickets and finished unbeaten. Jack Barton took three, including one with his very first delivery.
And Iain deserves plenty of credit for his 55, giving the Saints the platform they desperately needed and keeping the chase together when the pressure was building.
And Darren Woods, after 17 years away, showed that the old fielding instincts had certainly not deserted him.
But the afternoon belonged to Veera. A proper match winning performance, and definitely our MOTM.
The Plums had put up a fight.
The Saints had wobbled.
But, in the end, the job was done.
And importantly, we stay in second place.
Now we wait. The dream still alive.
Let’s hope that Plumpton can do us a favour and beat Cuckfield in their next match.
