Last gasp win against Harpenden youngsters continues the 2's winning run

We were relieved to get a game in at all after yet another wet week. Harpenden turned up with a mixture of youth and experience - 4 veterans and 7 youngsters. Harpenden won the toss and elected to bowl and openers George Lee and Zafar Basit set off at a brisk pace against the opening bowlers, moving the score along at 3.5 per over. Louis Gabaldoni, the young change bowler, bowled a tight spell with a low bounce due to him being barely taller than the stumps. At the other end, Rupert Garrett was finally rewarded by bowling Zaf for a solid 28 (78-1). Rory Macleod came in at 3 and was clearly not in the mood for running (maybe he needed to go to the loo again?) and scored 5 fours and a solitary single before being bowled by less than happy captain Ben Dearman (113-2 from 29 overs). Jon Bird was next in but at the other end George Lee was caught by Godfrey Evans for 59 (115-3). Majid Asif (27) and Jon (28*) then pushed the innings along to 169 before Majid was caught by wicket keeper Billy Giovanni off Neil Mackie’s bowling. Given the impending declaration, Pete Jaffe declined the opportunity to bat and Dave Flavell survived one ball before Jon saw us past 170 with two straight sixes. Mill Hill Village 181 for 4 from 44 overs.

Youthful Harpenden openers Jon Desborough and Michael Voigt were both removed without score by the accurate bowling of Ajay Bhatia from the Cowfield end, assisted by catches from Rory and Jon Bird while Mill Hill Village’s own youngster, George Downes, bowled a tight spell without reward from the Pavilion end. The patience of Billy Giovanni was finally broken and he was stumped by Rory off Ajay’s bowling for 15. Ajay was rewarded by the wickets of Mark Godfrey-Evans again caught by Rory for 1 and Louis Gabaldoni bowled for 1 to give him his fifth wicket, with Birju Lukka picking up Tom Randall’s wicket, excellently caught by a backtracking Pete ‘Chicken’ Jaffe, to leave the Harpenden innings in ruins at 22-6. The more experienced Harpenden tail then dug in and the seventh wicket partnership took the score to 55 before Lee Crocker bowled George Fordham for 9. At the other end captain Ben Dearman was taking the fight to the Village with some interesting shots, always aimed through midwicket and sometimes achieving his target before finally being caught by Lee Crocker, one of the three fielders lurking in the midwicket area (62-8). This wicket brought the father and son partnership of Rupert and George Garrett to the crease who provided stout resistance to take the prospect of victory away from the Village before Garrett the Younger was excellently run out by Lee Crocker for 17 in the 43rd over. Rupert Garrett and number 11 Neil Mackey then took the game into the final over until Ajay took the final wicket with a good low catch to give him his 6th wicket and Village their fourth consecutive victory. Harpenden 86 all out.

Conclusions
Another solid performance from both batsmen and bowlers gave Village victory against a mostly very young Harpenden team who fought very well to avoid losing the game. The excellent bowling of Ajay Bhatia (6 for 19) ultimately made the difference. Winning games like this can make the difference between promotion or not, though we would have got 19 points anyway.

Mill Hill Village 30 points, Harpenden 0.