4ths carve through Northwood 4ths

On a warm summers afternoon, Captain Prasanth won the toss and wisely chose to bat first and keep the opposition out in the afternoon heat for a long as possible. The prolific pairing of Vishal and Graham was back again, but this time with less success as Graham departed early after hitting a solitary boundary. Vishal continued to attack the bowlers playing some nice shots but was caught out for18. Vijay and Anuj were now at the crease, playing smart cricket and putting the bad balls away. The pitch proved too much to handle over a longer period though as both were bowled (17 & 10). Neil was in next but sadly Callum was run out due to poor communication for just 2. Youngster Rohan came to the crease and showed his promise keeping out the good balls but was eventually bowled for 10.

It was now the 30th over and Ricky had meandered to a 90-6. Out came the powerhouse Nas who made his intentions clear right away by smashing the ball for a boundary. Neil finally fell for 12 and was replaced by Prasanth who carried on the counterattack alongside Nas. Unfortunately, Nas was bowled for a valuable 49 after only 7 overs. Keshav, in next whose contribution was to run out the ailing Prasanth for 24, before ending on 15 not out. The 4ths had now put up a much more defendable score of 183-9, thanks to a strong performance from the lower order.

At the start of the second innings, the opening bowlers Nas and Rohan made use of the pitch, keeping the score low. Rohan took the first wicket picking up where he left off in the last game, taking another wicket in his later over. Chandru and Keshav were brought on and continued to apply pressure on the batsmen. With Chandru swinging the ball and Keshav bowling a good line, the two picked up wickets and kept the runs low. Prasanth bowled a couple of overs but was restricted by his sore ankle and Callum was put to the sword in an over he would probably rather forget. This left the side shorthanded in our bowling attack, meaning that Neil, Vijay, and Anuj took had to bowl 6 overs between them. Neil took a wicket and had a few chances dropped and the oppo took the game right to the last ball as they looked for batting points of their own. But 163-9 was never near the winning score.

So a good win for the 4th XI but wins elsewhere meant the team are still 46 points behind 2nd place and 79 points behind the automatic promotion spot owned by West Herts. It is looking increasingly like another season of what could have been,, but the team plays on and next is a visit to the batting paradise of Old Camdenians (just ask Mike Atkins!) who have stronger promotion hopes of their own.