A PUMPED up King’s Road were held to a draw in a thrilling timed match against The Believers CC.

Nine catchers crowded round the batsmen in the final five overs as the Orange Caps desperately tried to snaffle the last few wickets to force the win.

But, as The Road threw everything at them, The Believers kept the faith to hang in to the end at the Abbey Rec ground in South Wimbledon.

Lomas Persad had smacked 73 and Sam Lavender 45 as the Orange Caps racked up 208 – their biggest score of the season.

The match was also notable for two big King’s Road landmarks.

First, Leon Watson, in what could be his last game this season, scored the 15 runs he needed to overhaul Sham de Silva as the club’s highest run scorer.

And then Matt Glover became the first Roader to pass 100 wickets as he returned figures of 3 for 44.

The day started with captain Matt Small losing the toss and being put in to bat.

That looked a wise decision by the opposition, as some very variable bounce early on showed the pitch had dried on top after overnight rain.

The Road also had to grapple with the unfamiliar tactical complexities of the timed format.

However, Chris MacNicol and Dan Sherman dealt with it well and put on a solid opening display.

Sherm made up for soaking the skip’s kit in cider after he smashed a bottle on it by scoring 25, and then going home to tumble dry the whites.

And C-Mac gave good support as the pair put on 40. The partnership ended in the ninth over when C-Mac was caught behind for 9, and five runs later Sherm was also caught.

In strode, Lomas and then Sam who proceeded to put on 94 between them in the key partnership of the match.

Lomas negotiated a tricky early spell as the ball frequently jumped at him to hit 11 fours all round the wicket.

Sam was even more destructive.

He took full advantage of a fast outfield to smash 45 off just 37 balls that included nine boundaries before being caught by the keeper off a thin edge.

Two quick wickets followed.

James Couldrey went for 4, to another catch, off 13 balls and then Dave Hughes was trapped lbw for a duck off 5 balls.

By now time was running out and The Road were looking to pile on the runs so the bowlers would have enough overs to skittle The Believers.

Leon and Lomas put on 20, before the West Indian wonder finally holed out for 73.

Another 22 was added by Leon and Matt Glover before Glove was bowled a quick 14 off 11 balls.

Leon finished not out when the declaration was made.

A hearty tea of artisan bread, pulled pork wraps and a particularly tasty banana cake followed before The Road went out to field.

It didn’t take long for the fireworks to go off.

Small’s first over went for 19.

Then, on the last ball of the second over Glover struck, as Lomas scooped up a sharp low catch in the slips to dismiss Fowler.

However, the Believers were already on 29 when the first wicket went down.

And the runs continued to flow as opener Chris Hale let loose.

It took until the 14th over for the vital breakthrough to come, Hale caught by Sherman off Muhammed Shaboodien for a speedy 73.

With Chris Brown bowling from the other end, Mo had already slowed the run-rate from a canter to a snail’s pace.

He got a second in the 26th over, when Glover caught Nathwani for 6, off 31 balls.

STATS: @Mrf_LP7 71 (77 balls), Sam Lavender 45 (37), @Shermles 25 (30), @sincere_d 3-44, Mohammed Shaboodien 3-27 vs @TheBelieversCC today.

— King's Road Cricket & Social Club (@KRCSC) June 21, 2015

A stand by Reilly and Stonham briefly threatened to get The Believers back in the game, but after the former was bowled by Lomas the opposition appeared to shut up shop.

With 8 overs left the run-rate was steepling and The Believers’ faith in their ability to win was being tested.

Geeson was bowled for a six-ball duck in Glover’s second spell and then Chris Brown deservedly picked up a wicket  by breaking the resistance of Stonham, lbw for 30.

A draw against new opponents King's Road CC… pic.twitter.com/xcNf1nZyZ3

— The Believers CC (@TheBelieversCC) June 21, 2015

The Believers were 168 for 7 with two overs left meaning runs were now out of the equation.

Only two results were possible – a King’s Road win or a draw.

As the net closed in and the tension was ramped up a notch, Mo struck again, bowling Mounsey.

But while numbers 9 and 10 looked edgy, they survived the final onslaught to play out the draw.

In the end it was a fair result between two equally-matched sides.

Next up, The Road take on Butterlords CC on June 27.