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1's impress, 2's are frustrated, the rest are disappointed

1's impress, 2's are frustrated, the rest are disappointed

Chris Goldie25 Jun 2017 - 17:58
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An excellent win for the 1's and a dominant performance from the 2's but the 3's, 4's, 5's and Under 21's lose

Week 8 of the League season and possibly the most complete performance of the 1st XI season to date as they convincingly beat Southgate. Meanwhile the 2's suffered the same fate as the 1's at Brondesbury with a winning draw. However the woes of the 3's, 4's and 5's continued.
At Old Deer Park, Southgate elected to bat first but some excellent seam and spin contained the visitors for much of their innings. Southgate rallied from 106 for 7 to reach 187 all out in the 63rd over but on a decent pitch, this did not look a formidable total. 4 wickets for Dave Burton, 2 each for Steve Stacey, Ashish Lakhlani and Bhavesh Pankhania. In reply, despite the early loss of James Irvine-Fortescue, Ben Compton and Adam London consolidated, batting with assurance and commitment to take us to 146 before Compo fell for an excellent 83. However Abhi and Adam, with one eye on the grey could which were gathering, knocked the last 42 off with ease see us home. The win sees the 1's gain ground on Teddington and North Middlesex, both of which lost, and move into 4th place, 23 points behind new leaders Ealing.
At Brondesbury, Simon Elliott led the way with a ton as Richmond rattled up 299 for 5 off 55. Broncs reply was slightly more adventurous than their 1's the previous week but they shut up shop when 6 down and settled for a losing draw. The 2's are in joint 6th place, a long way off the leaders North Middlesex.
The 3's travelled to Uxbridge and did not score enough runs - 169 all out. In reply, there were some tense moments but Uxbridge chased down our total for the loss of 4 wickets. The 3's remain in the bottom 2 and need some wins to get back into the pack.
The 3b's also started the day in the bottom 2 and remain there after a narrow defeat to North Midd 4's. We posted 183 and when the visitors were 9 down with more than 20 required, a win looked likely. It was not to be as the last pair held their nerve to win.
The 5's, suffering from poor availability again, lost to Highgate 4's comfortably.
On Sunday, the MDL side hosted defending champions Indian Gymkhana and lost by 8 wickets. There was an excellent 60 from Sami Shori but no other batsman really contributed. The visitors knocked off 142 for the loss of 2 wickets.
So, signs of improvement at the top of the club but a lot of work to do lower down. We are being hit hard by availability each weekend and I would really hope that members begin to realise that a certain amount of commitment is required for us to field decent sides every week. There is a lot of cricket coming up in the next few weeks and plenty of opportunities for players to impress the selection committee and secure places in higher sides. In particular now is the time for youngsters who believe that they deserve a chance to step up to the plate, commit and perform.
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