Village close in on the title

Mill Hill Village 1st XI played host to Old Owens 2nd XI in Division 7. The visitors were invited to bat first and swiftly lost 4 of their top 5 batsmen, to leave themselves reeling on 16-4 after 10 overs. A 5th wicket partnership of 60 runs between Curdon (33) and Hunter (49*) steadied things for a while but when Curdon fell, there was another flurry of wickets which left Old Owens in trouble at 84-7. Some stubborn resistance from the late order enabled Owens to bat through until their 53rd and last over. However, they were finally dismissed for 132, a total which never looked adequate. Wickets were shared among the Village bowlers, A.Potter 3-21, M.Cara 3-22, A.Brazill 2-48 and D.Overton 1-9 from his 8 overs.

25 overs was sufficient to see the Village batting line up overhaul the target set but they did make uncharacteristically hard work of it, losing 6 wickets along the way. D.Potter (42) provided a solid platform as always but the other batsmen lacked application and gave their wickets away too cheaply. Nevertheless, another comfortable victory that kept the Village 48 points clear at the top of the league. With 3 matches to go, promotion is assured but the title still needs to be secured.