2's remain undefeated after well paced run chase in the drizzle

It's always cold in Redbourn! We returned to the scene of our first game in the Herts League 5 years after a Zaf Basit century and Lee Crocker hat trick brought us our first victory. On a chilly day with rain forecast, winning the toss was a big bonus and the skipper chose to bowl, as usual. Darshan Raval, returning from a side strain incurred at an all you can eat buffet, and Shash Seem led the bowling attack. The Redbourn openers looked solid and pushed the score along at 3-4 an over until Darshan got lucky with a wide ball that Redbourn captain Nigel Wellsbury (19) couldn't resist taking a swipe at and Zaf caught the faint edge (39/1, 13th over). The steady batting continued, with the Redbourn batsmen taking advantage of any loose balls, and the score moved on to 87 before Anand Kumar bamboozled Antony Mauder (17) in his first over. Another solid partnership took the score to 114 and Pryank Patel again made a breakthrough in his first over, having Jack Blair caught for 11 at mid off by Dave Flavell. Opener John Pritchard followed shortly afterwards for a well crafted 60, caught by Saurabh Singh at cover to give Anand his second wicket (122/4, 35th over). Anand picked up a third wicket with Chris Renwick caught for 14 at cover by Darshan (133/5), Pryank showed Sanket that he's not the only bowl someone behind their legs (147/6) and Shash finally got his reward having James McKay (4) caught by Pete Jaffe at first slip (152/7). The experienced pair of Martin Benfield (36*) and Simon Emmins (13*) then bashed the ball around for a valuable 43 from the last 5 overs to end the Redbourn innings on 195/7 from their 50 overs.

We took tea with drizzle starting to fall, prompting a quick look at the rule book which revealed that at least 20 overs had to be bowled to constitute a game and after that the game would be decided on run rate if shortened or abandoned due to rain. So no Duckworth-Lewis for us, simply the need to score at 4 an over or above. Openers Zaf Basit and Lee Crocker got off to a flying start with Zaf taking full advantage of some wayward legside bowling from Redbourn youngster Jack Blair, including a towering 6 over deep backward square leg which hit the scoreboard. Lee Crocker tucked in similarly to Henry Amos's bowling and 34 came from the first three overs to leave us well ahead of the run rate. Blair was replaced by Martin Benfield and some normality was restored to the run rate which pushed along until Zaf was unlucky to be bowled off his pads by Benfield for 26 (45/1, 7 overs). Saurabh Singh joined Lee in the middle and looked scratchy, struggling to get off the mark against the left arm seam of Benfield coming into him with the slope. Lee pushed the score along at the other end and Saurabh (0) fell to a similar fate as Zaf, bowled off an inside edge onto his pads by Benfield (72/1, 15th over). Incoming batsman Pete Jaffe looked more comfortable to the ball coming into him and scored freely before playing round a straight ball from yet another left armer Oliver Richardson and was bowled for 13 (88/3, 19th over). Murtuza Amin (12) also looked in good form, dispatching the slow bowling of Nigel Wellsbury into the scorers table before falling LBW to Richardson (109/4, 25th over). Sanket Shah came in and played a bustling quickfire innings, also looking solid before being bowled for 14 trying to work a straight ball for a single (143/5, 30th over). New batsman Anand Kumar worked the ball nicely square on the off side, keeping us well ahead of the required run rate and it was starting to look as if Anand and Crocker could see us through until Lee finally mishit a ball to extra cover and Redbourn captain Wellsbury held the catch - no mean feat with a wet ball and cold hands - ending a fine innings of 63 (162/6, 34th over). Anand followed him shortly afterwards, bowled on 19 by a ball from Simon Emmins that seamed in (166/7, 35th over), setting the stage for a match that hung in the balance with 30 runs required and two new batsmen at the crease with 3 wickets left, though the run rate was no longer a problem with 15 overs left. Dave Flavell looked uncomfortable initially against Emmins and there were several LBW shouts, though the target was slowly being approached. Like Saurabh, Darshan Raval was unable to get off the mark but stuck round long enough for 18 runs to be added before being given LBW, again to a ball from left armer Benfield which straightened with the slope (184/8). The skipper (21*) and Shash Seem (3*) saw us through without much drama to give us a hard fought victory against a good Redbourn team who will be in the mix for a third consecutive promotion at the end of the season.

It was definitely a good toss to win, as the drizzle which persisted through the Village innings made bowling, fielding and especially catching tricky for the home side whilst not hampering the batting. Our bowling attack worked well against a very solid Redbourn top and middle order who gave us our first 50 over workout of the season. Anand Kumar was the pick of the bowlers, with 3 for 19 from his 10 overs. Only one catch was dropped, a tough one that didn't quite stick in Pete's palm at slip. Our batting, Lee Crocker (63) particularly, was greatly improved and all the batsmen chipped in, even this weeks Quackmeisters Saurabh and Darshan stuck around forming invaluable partnerships in what is our best chase since 2011. We are now undefeated in our first three games and are in second place in the Division, level on points with Abbots Langley IIIs.

Mill Hill Village 2's 30 points, Redbourn 3's 14 points.