Crushing victory sends the Village top

Having lost the toss, the Village were once again asked to bat first against the bottom side in the league. Despite not wanting to open, Lawrence was forced into doing so following the drop out of Suleman at 11.15am on Saturday morning.

Despite only making 1, Lawrence and Matin put on 36 inside the first 6 overs, the young Hemel openers persisting with the short ball outside off that Matin tends to like. After finding mid-off with a poor attempted drive, the skipper was back in the hutch but Matin and Dan Penny, elevated to number 3 in the absence of Naz, continued to score quickly. By the time Matin had been run out in the 10th over, we were 65-2.

Pete joined Dan at the crease and despite both providing fairly straightforward chances early on, continued keeping the scoreboard ticking over quickly. As both took advantage of some 'pies', Pete was particularly severe on the opposition captain, taking 20 off one over. Just as he looked like he was about to repeat the dose, having taken 8 off the first 2 balls, he got a thin edge to fall agonisingly short of his first century in a few seasons. Initially having thought he made 98, a recount in the bar confirmed he had gone one better and made 99.

Dan then tried to accelerate the run rate, having made his maiden fifty for the club and by the time he had been bowled for 81, Lawrence declared with the score on a mammoth 283-4 after 38.1 overs.

Following a fairly slow turnaround, Liam then started the rout with the third ball of the innings. Initially having thought the batsman had been given out LBW, it transpired that the umpire had seen an outside edge and had ruled the batsman out caught behind.

Liam, Ajay and Dan Butcher then picked up wickets (all bowled) yet again showing the necessity to bowl straight in this league. In all 7 of the 10 wickets taken were bowled, which is as clear an indication as any.

Shahme continued his good form picking up 4 wickets, which, along with a run out and 1 more for Liam meant the game was over fairly quickly.

A rest week next week, meaning that in all likelihood, Botany Bay will overtake us, however with a game against them on the 13th August, if they drop any points, we will have a good chance of regaining top spot.