A 2nd successive win for Village 1s

The first away game of the season for the 1st XI saw stand in skipper Phil Smith lose the toss and be invited to bat first on a greenish looking deck at Hitchin. In a start becoming a little too familiar, a lively and enthusiatic Hitchin bowling and fielding outfit soon reduced the Village to 43-3 in the 11th over. However the middle order looked much more confident and comfortable and a fluent stand of 88 between Danny Potter (56) and Marcus Cara (70) soon settled Village nerves.

At 131 for 4 Felix came to the crease and batted through to the end of the Village innings. He rotated the strike well and provided a platform for others to flourish. A series of small but swift contributions from the lower middle order moved the scoreboard along rapidly, as the Village took advantage of a tiring fielding and bowling unit who looked a little dejected, having failed to take advantage of a promising start.

Felix was the last man out for 45, falling to the last ball of the 48th over, attempting to go to 50 in style. A declaration was pending at this stage anyway, as the Village had amassed an impressive 262 runs. This gave the Village 52 overs to bowl out Hitchin who would need to score at more than 5 an over to overhaul the total.

At tea (which was top notch!), the Village were confident that the large total on the board and good variety of attack available would allow pressure to be placed on the Hitchin batsmen. However, far from being under pressure a succession of Hitchin batsmen came to the crease demonstrating real aggressive intent and took the attack to the Village bowlers. It was clear very early on that the game would not end in a draw, as Hitchin were always well up with or ahead of the rate required.

There was an exciting ebb and flow to the run chase as each side fought for supremacy. The Village kept managing to pick up odd wickets at vital times to keep themselves in the game but Hitchin frequently seemed to be in the box seat, particularly at 200-6 after just 30 overs with 2 batsmen well set. Each Hitchin batsman seemed to be able to hit the ball further than the last. Most of the Village bowlers took some tap, with at least 4 going 'out of the ground', some on several occasions.

Both opening bowlers, Saahil and the Nut, bowled well early on, with limited luck or success. The top order then began to line them up and tee off. After providing a small measure of control early on and picking up a couple of useful wickets each, the off spin of Danny Potter (2-42) and our new leg spinner, Sanket Shah (2-45) were particularly harshly treated. So, with the game racing away, it was time for a change of tactics. The golden arm of partnership breaker Majid Asif came to the rescue with a wicket at a vital time. At the other end, James Cook came on for his first spell of the season and after a couple of rusty overs, he found a good line and length in the nick of time. Cooky removed their hard hitting number 8 when he looked well set and then took a couple more wickets in quick succession as the Hitchin resistance finally crumbled and the tail end capitulated. He finished with figures of 3-26 in 3.2 overs.

The ground fielding and catching was a bit of a mixed bag. There were some good catches taken at important moments but one or two straight forward chances went down which could have made the Village task a little easier.

It was an exhilirating game which could have gone either way and Hitchin deserve credit for their part in it, particularly the bold run chase, where several batsmen looked a cut above the division they were playing in. The Village have some areas to improve upon, notably the top order batting and the occasional loss of control in the bowling department. However, there is a lot to be pleased about too, particularly the handling of difficult situations when under significant pressure in both innings of the match.

Another 30 points then, as the Village 1st XI extend their 100% win record in the Herts league. Only 4 teams have won both their opening games in Division 10 and at this very early stage of the season, the Village sit at the top of the table.