HALVERSTOWN 2: 100 All Out off 34 overs.
H2 Batting: J.Khan 46 T.Thomas 8 K. Hodson 6 J. Hodgson 5 S.Gordon 4
O3 Bowling: Sreenavasun 5-1-10-4 Sandesh 5-21-3 Vijay 5-1-10-1
ONGAR 3: 103 off 24.2 overs
O3 Batting: Pranav 35* Vish 21* Sandesh 14 Sandeep 14
H2 Bowling: D.Drumm 6-1-19-2 M.Hodgson 4-1-19-1 A.Syed 5-14-0
J.Khan 5-15-0 B.Langford 2-11-0 K.Hodson 2.2-18-0
It was disappointing that we went lost an important match without pushing the opposition particularly hard. Not that we didn't try, but having put only 100 on the board it was an uphill task. To be fair it had been a major issue to get 11 players out and we lacked experience overall. Ongar were experienced and played cannily when it came to their innings, knowing that they had time on their side.
We won the toss and batted. Jim held his end up very well, his 5 coming off 50 balls, but we had lost Matt and Ahsan quickly and we were 4 for 2 off less than 3 overs. Junaid then produced his customary accomplished innings, starting gently and then cranking up the run rate. His 46 came from 59 balls, but unfortunately no one else got into double figures and there were 3 ducks. Not enough runs, though Ongar's bowling was very good and there was no weak link in their line-up, the most expensive being Pranav at 5 per over. Sreenavun was close to unplayable.
Our fielding could then have been sharper, but since I missed a relatively straightforward catch I can't say much- and it was off my own bowling too! It was the only easy catch missed, but there was a fair bit of fumbling and missing of stops and overthrows. They got the win losing just 3 wickets. Whilst we lacked cohesiveness at times, I can't fault the effort, particularly amongst our younger players Matt, Shamikh and Brandon - the latter bowling a couple of tidy overs and Matt claiming a wicket - as well as Stuart Gordon's input, playing his first league game of the season.
Our chance of glory has slipped away but thanks to those who turned out on Sunday: it was a very bad weekend for availability and several players responded to late call-ups. Special thanks Sean Conroy who came along along to score and did a fantastically professional job on the book- and then fielded for Tojo, who was carrying an injury.
Des Drumm 2/9/24