3's lose to top of the league

The 3's were at home against Harpenden V.

The skipper won the toss and decided to have a bat on a warm day.

James Thompson (54) and George Downes (10) opened the batting for the Village and started steadily with George looking good getting the first boundary of the innings. George was trapped LBW in the 7th over which brought Dan Penny (0) to the crease but he was caught in the next over to leave the Village 20-2. Farzan Dulker Nain (17) was next man in and he and the skipper looked to stay in as conditions were good for batting. The pair were starting to hit their straps as boundaries were beginning to flow with Farzan hitting a 6 and after 15 overs the Village were 60-2 and going nicely and looking at a competitive total but Farzan was out LBW in the next over. That brought Graham Leggett (1) to the crease and he also fell LBW, which meant Mohamed Salahudeen (0) was in to join the skipper but he fell LBW in the next over as the Village had gone from 64-2 to 79-5. Rachit Chawla (30) joined the skipper with a bit of a rebuild job on to get the Village to a decent total to bowl at but the skipper was playing nicely and scoring freely which gave the Village some hope. Rachit was solid and the skipper brought up a well deserved 50 and knew that he had to stay in as long as possible but unfortunately he did not last too much longer as he was stumped. Dave Knight (0) was next in and stayed with Rachit for 5 overs as Rachit began to up his scoring rate but Dave was next man out caught which brought Tommy Smith (8) to the crease and he hit 2 boundaries, one a great cut shot but he went for one more boundary and was caught. Chalky Cara (9) was next in but it was Rachit who fell next looking to hit over the top and he was caught but he had batted nicely. Femi Erhabor (1) was next in but it was Chalky who took control as he hit 2 boundaries but he was last man out bowled as the innings finished on 146 all out.

Tommy Smith (0-27) and Chalky Cara (0-23) opened the bowling and the oppo started like a train as the first 4 balls of the innings went for 20 runs. The ball was going to all parts as the oppo looked like they were in a hurry, Graham Leggett (0-40) had the last over before tea replacing Chalky and was unlucky not to get a wicket as Farzan dropped an edge as the oppo were 55-0 off the first 10 overs. James Thompson (3-37) replaced Tommy and in his first over picked up a wicket thanks to a cutter that went through the gate to bowl the number 1 batsman. In his next over the skipper picked up another with one that stopped in the pitch with the batsman chipping up a simply chance which Chalky Cara took. The number 2 batsman for Harpenden had reached his 50 in double quick time and he was looking at a 100 but the skipper got him out as he was bowled for 68. The number 4 and 5 bat for Harpenden continued where the others had left off and runs were proving hard to stop. Dave Knight (0-17) came on for 1 over to replace the skipper but he could not halt the runs and with the last ball of his over the winning runs were hit.

A decent performance against the strongest side in the league with a weakened team. The skipper played well to score his 2nd 50 of the season and Rachit Chawla also batted well. It was a struggle for the bowlers with everyone getting hit to all parts but the skipper picked up all 3 of the wickets to fall which was a decent effort considering he had not bowled since the 2nd game of the season and he was man of the match thanks to a good all round performance on the day.