Battling Boxmoor prevent Village victory

In the absence of several key players, including regular captain David Overton, the helm was taken by Phil 'Smudger' Smith for the visit of Boxmoor 2nd XI to Burtonhole Lane. The visitors won the toss and somewhat surprisingly invited the Village to bat first.

Openers Felix Charles (26) and Kelvin Sutherland (17) got the innings off to a solid start with an opening stand of 51, however, both then fell in quick succession. Marcus Cara at No.3 was in untypical scratchy form but Smudger in at 4, was fluent from the start and moved rapidly onto 49 before playing around a straight one. Once again a couple of wickets fell close together, leaving the score on a slightly precarious 112 for 4. The middle order all chipped in though and steered the innings to a healthy total, allowing a declaration on 233-8 after 51 overs. Majid Asif's 50 not out was the pick of the knocks but useful contributions also came from Hinal Gajjar (24) and Steve Pullen (16*).

Boxmoor's reply got off to an excellent start and at 90 for 0 after 22 overs and then 110 for 1 after 25, a first defeat of the season was a real possibility. Saahil Mehra bowled a long 17 over spell and was both economical and threatening. It seems, lady luck is not his friend this season, as he went wicketless all day. The economy rate of the long spell did help build pressure, which undoubtedly brought wickets at the other end. Marcus Cara was the beneficiary, as his variety of off breaks, seemed to the opposition, like the easier option to score from.

The tiring Boxmoor top order perished trying to hit Marcus for big boundaries. They all had some success initially but young Cara was generally to have the last laugh, ripping out 4 of the top 5. His final figures of 6-63 from 16 overs were an excellent return.

Young George Downes also bowled his slow left armers very well indeed, picking up a vital wicket at an important time. His return of 1-16 from 6 overs is evidence of his growing control and confidence.

The game was close for quite a while but it petered out as Boxmoor began to lose wickets rapidly and the run rate climbed towards 8 and 9 an over. In the end, Boxmoor set their sights on batting bonus points rather than the win. Some cheap wickets came the Village way, courtesy of Majid's safe hands but it never looked likely that the home side could force victory. Boxmoor's innings ended in a flurry on 190 for 7, giving the visitors 9 points, against the Village's 17 points.