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A near perfect weekend for Richmond's men

A near perfect weekend for Richmond's men

Chris Goldie29 May 2023 - 08:38
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Four wins out of 5 League matches and a great cup win end an encouraging month for Richmond's men

The 1st XI continued its winning start to the 2023 season with a resounding win over Hornsey at Old Deer Park whilst Zain Bhatkar's 2nd XI continued their winning ways with an equally impressive win at Hornsey's Tivoli Road ground. There were centuries for Richmond batters in both fixtures. At ODP Vansh Jani became only the second 17 year old to record a 1st XI MCCL ton for Richmond (the other being a young Aussie named Gilchrist in 1989), whilst Sean Aggarwal's was in imperious form for the 2's.
Vansh's ton, aided by skipper Adam London's 75 and Greg King's 61, helped the 1s to a total of 306 for 6 off 45 overs, a total that was always going to be hard to chase down however excellent the pitch. Hornsey's reply was made more difficult when Ishaan Kashaul removed both openers with just 6 on the board. A solid 3rd wicket stand followed but the required rate was always rising. After Ben Ward broke the 92 run stand, the pressure on Hornsey increased and their chase effectively came to an end after 3 more wickets were lost to leave the visitors 148 for 6. After that it was only a question of whether Hornsey could secure a losing bonus point. They managed this 9 down in the last over, finishing on 247 for 9. Ishaan picked up 3 wickets and Wardy 2 but Richmond's bowling and fielding were very good throughout. A 3rd win and a 10 point lead at the top of the Division is an excellent start.
Sean Aggarwal's 117 supported by Tom Spearman's 57 saw the 2's record a total of 266 for 9 off 45. At one stage, Hornsey seemed to be on course for a successful chase but Will Knowles 4/37 and Dru Shori's 2/28 ensured a comfortable 49 win. After the disappointment of an opening loss on Twickenham Green, back to back wins for Zain's side sees it joint top with Highgate on 25 points.
The 3's recorded their third successive win with a comfortable 6 wicket defeat of North London. Ted Patmore's 3 for 31 was the pick of the bowling as North London were contained to 176 for 7 off 45. In reply Richmond lost early wickets but the Sajawal brothers, Zefa with 82 not out and Hamza with 59 not out saw us home with more than 12 overs to spare. The 3's are one of three sides in their division to have won all 3 matches (Barnes and Ealing being the others).
The 4's were well beaten by top of the division Highgate 3's who scored 267 for 8 off 45. In return we could only manage 133 with Bharath Manimaran's 55 the only highlight. With one win and two defeats the 4's are in 9th place in Division 1 of the third tier. The 5's won their second match on the trot chasing down Harrow 3's 234 for the loss of 6 wickets but with 13 overs to spare. 106 from Qaiser Mumtaz and 67 from Rashid Mushtaq were the highlights.
On Sunday a young and inexperienced Richmond side travelled to North Middlesex in the Middlesex Cup. The home side scored 257 off their 45 overs. Richmond's reply was dominated by one of the great Richmond cup innings. Ben Ward, who has been batting at 8 on a Saturday, was promoted to open and it was fitting that he should be there at the end to hit the winning runs with a maximum and see us home by two wickets and one ball to spare. Earlier Wardy had bowled well, going at just 4 an over, but it was his performance with the bat which stood out as he finished on 135 not out. Eddie Bruce's 45 being the only other score over 20. This was undoubtedly a win against the odds and sees us through to the Cup quarter-final.
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