Showers and overcast weather was the prelude to last weekend's games and it seemed to rub off on most of our performances, unfortunately.
The 1s went over to Harrow looking to continue their strong start to the season. They won the toss and chose to bat but soon found themselves 9-2. Things steadied a little with James Cormack (52) and Tasin Iqbal putting on 42 for the next wicket but 51-2 quickly became 61-5. Tony Sayers (52) joined Cormack at the crease to settle things for a while, putting on 68 for the 6th wicket, but Cormack and Sayers both fell in quick succession, and the rest of the lineup followed. We were all out for 142.
In response, despite the loss of two quick wickets to bring them to 35-2, Harrow never looked troubled. The presence of former West Indian international, Devon Smith (70*) helped somewhat... Harrow came home victorious, winning by 7 wickets.
The 3s hosted West Harrow at the Grammar School knowing that it would be a challenging top of the table clash. West Harrow chose to bowl first and things did not start well as we lost Adnan with the first ball of the match. Things didn't really get much better as we fell to 39-6 - cue the frantic scenes of players who were umpiring dashing off to get changed as the wickets fell which meant they were already due in to bat... Thankfully, Noor Maroof (60) and Abdul Salam (27*) brought some sense of respectability to proceedings and brought us up to a total of sorts, as we finished 135 all out.
With the ball, it seemed straightaway that the total just wasn't going to be enough, though this wasn't helped by dropped catches: 3 in the first 5 overs, 8 in total. West Harrow never really looked worried by the chase and won by 8 wickets.
It was a similar story for the 4s, as Old Minchendenians bowled first and took early wickets. Only one of our top 6 made it to double figures. Tim Cunningham (27) and Tom Simons (34) steered the performance but it was going to be difficult for that to be enough as we finished 132 all out.
As with the other sides, the lack of runs proved an issue as Old Minchendenians never looked troubled by the chase. Our bowlers toiled away with Waleed, Tom and Joe getting one apiece but there just wasn't enough on the board to cause problems. They won by 7 wickets.
The 2s, however, bucked the trend. Batting first, despite the early loss of Ajay, we scored well. All of our batters from 2 to 9 contributed, scoring (pretty much) 20-30 apiece - a method that will always get towards a good total. Kian top-scored with 36 as we hit 220-8 (dec.) in 50 overs.
With the ball, things started positively with an early wicket from Ali and a runout but, then, Kensington + Chelsea steadied a put together a strong third wicket partnership. Things were beginning to look a little bit interesting as they crept towards 100-2 but then Sam Martin struck. As the 1s, 3s, and 4s began to return from their disappointing afternoon, they were treated to the tensest of tense finishes. With wickets falling, we edged towards victory but Kensington + Chelsea were trying to provide tough resistance. With overs running out, we still needed 2 wickets to win, before Sam stepped up and grabbed them with less than two overs to spare, finishing with 7-42, and cueing scenes of pandemonium in the stands. A great win!
On Sunday, our young MDL side headed to Finchley. We bowled first and bowled excellently, restricting Finchley to 117. Unfortunately, in reply, we weren't quite able to get over the line, finishing 107 all out. We were probably just a little shy of experience.
We also faced Teddington in the next round of the Middlesex T20 on Sunday, at Ealing CC. We batted first, scoring 128-8, with James Cormack top-scoring with 47. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough as Teddington comfortably chased it down, winning by 9 wickets inside 13 overs.
This weekend's fixtures:
1s vs. Ealing Trailfinders
2s @ Bessborough
3s vs. Kenton
4s @ Botany Bay
MDL vs. Middlesex Mavericks [Sunday]