Embarrassing

A woeful batting display against a 3rd XI bowling attack cost the Village a straightforward 30 points. There were few excuses as a succession of batsman hit long hops and half volleys straight at the grateful Kings Langley fielders, who could scarcely believe they were in the game at all. Marcus Cara top scored with 38 but having been dropped several times, even he was not able to emerge with any credit. Only one other batsman reached double figures. All this despite the opposition's extreme generosity, providing 40 extras on top of the numerous dropped chances. It was as bad a batting display as any in recent memory and defeat was nothing short of embarrassing.

Kings Langley had earlier won the toss and decided to bat first. Losing 3 early wickets the middle order simply dug in and batted overs. It was dull turgid cricket but in the end it proved the difference between the sides. Kings Langley batted 45 overs in scoring 167 all out. MHV managed to last just 31 overs and fell 37 runs short of victory.

The bowling display was pretty decent and the fielding OK for the most part until the final few overs when sloppiness gave the visitors 20 more runs than they deserved and a little momentum going into tea. Saahil Mehra (3-24) bowled well and deserved more for his efforts but he was not the only one with the long face after this one.

The Village play top of the table Shenley Village next and will need to improve dramatically to stop the rot.