After losing the toss and being inserted on a track that looked like a road, we shot ourselves in the foot (again!) and lost 2 early wickets, Matin slicing to a perfectly positionedbackward point second ball of the innings and Ali trying to sweep a straight ball but using his pad instead, leaving us for 11-2.

A solid partnership between Naz and Shahme took us to 69-2 before Shahme had to retire with a pulled hamstring. Unfortunately Naz soon followed him back, but after scoring a very useful 47. It was down to Pete to then build partnerships with the next 4 batsmen with Dan Butcher making an assured 22 and stepping up the scoring when needed.

This took us to 224-7, at which point Lawrence declared an over early to give us 44 overs to try and get the 10 wickets needed. As per the previous week, Naz picked up a wicket early, the opening bat playing all round a straight ball and being castled.

While Naz bowled a superb spell from one end, unfortunately we were unable to exert any pressure, with Darshan and Dan Penny going for 76 from their respective spells of 5 overs, choosing to use their own half of the wicket instead of the batsmen's.

George and Shahme provided an element of control, with George picking up the breakthrough with a full toss drawing a fortunate inside edge. Shahme then picked up a wicket bowling their number 4 off a combination of legs and bat, before George Downes picked up the number 5 with a superb ball which was perfectly flighted.

The game was beginning to get away from us and with the opposition skipper reaching his hundred the end didn't seem far away. After being brought back, Naz picked up their skipper with the fifth bowled of the innings. Unfortunately the two youngsters at the crease then maturely knocked the runs off to win relatively comfortably.

A decent batting performance with a couple of good bowling performances (15 points in total), but a lack of ability to put any sustained pressure on the batsman ultimately cost us, coupled with two costly drops.

Match details

Match date

Sat 04 Jun 2011

Kickoff

13:00

Meet time

11:15

Location

Berkhamstead

Instructions

11.30am meet at club. 12.30pm if going direct (please let me know if you're going direct and plese be on time as starting with 9 players isn't fair on your teammates)

Postcode: HP4 3NF

Directions: M1 to junction 5

At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto the A41 ramp to M25 West/ Aylesbury/ N Watford. Merge onto N Western Ave/ A41, Continue to follow A41,( Go through 1 roundabout). Turn left onto N Western Ave/ A41, At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto Watford Rd/ A41 heading to M25 (E)/ M1 (N)/ Aylesbury/ Hemel Hempstead/ Kings Langley/ A41 (N), Continue to follow A41, (Go through 1 roundabout).

Exit A41 at 3rd exit (signposted Chesham) and at roundabout take first exit (Berkhamsted). This takes you back over the A41 and at next roundabout, take first left along Kingshill Way. The road will take a sharp right hand bend, but you should go straight on (turning "left") onto Shootersway. After about 200 yds the gate entrance to the field is on the left. There is a large modern wooden pavillion and plenty of parking

Team overview

Improved performance but a poor bowling display lets the third team down