3's win again

The 3's were up against Watford Town V away.

The skipper lost the toss and the opposing skipper asked the Village to bat.

James Thompson (69) and Pete Jaffe (32) opened the batting and both were solid against the new ball as the score crept along. Both batsman were watchful on a tricky pitch and against the opening bowlers who were useful but were still able to find the odd boundary, although the skipper gave up a simple chance when on 5 which should have been taken. The pair put on 57 for the 1st wicket before Pete was caught at point. Dan Penny (0) was next in and was out the 2nd ball of his innings as he was adjudged to be LBW even though he was adamant he had hit it onto his pad. Mohamed Salahudeen (22) was next in and he and the skipper put on a useful partnership of 40 as Mo was able to hit the boundaries to increase the score. Mo was then out as he was caught and bowled which saw Inthikhab Mazeez (0) next in making his debut but he didn't last long as he was caught at gully. Gayan Perera (11) was the next man in also making his debut and he and the skipper put on 38 for the 5th wicket, with the skipper bringing up a deserved 50 in the process. Gayan was bowled and Farzan Dulker Nain (9) was next in and after hitting a few boundaries was caught in the deep. The very next ball Mathan Mahalingam (0) was bowled and then Tommy Smith (0) facing a hat trick ball was bowled with a ball that barely got above the ankles to leave the Village 148-8. Chalky Cara (3*) joined the skipper to try and bat the remaining overs and get the Village to 170-180 but the skipper was next out as he was run out going for more runs. Dave Knight (0) was the last man in and he was out LBW the next ball as the Village innings ended on 155 all out..

Tommy Smith (1-23) and Inthikhab Mazeez (1-12) took the new ball and Inthikhab's first over produced a wicket thanks to a catch from Mathan. Mathan Mahalingam (3-24) replaced Inthikhab and in his first over he got a wicket bowling the number 3 batsman, 32-2. Dan Penny (2-14) then took over from Tommy and in his 2nd over he had a wicket bowling the number 4 before Mathan got his 2nd as he trapped the number 1 batsman LBW to leave Watford 51-4 off of 16 overs. Chalky Cara (1-19) then replaced Mathan who was tiring and he got the number 5 batsman out caught and bowled after a slight juggle. A couple of overs later and Dan had his 2nd wicket as the number 6 batsman was caught at mid off by Gayan Perera to restrict the home team to 76-6 off of 27 overs. Gayan Perera (1-13) replaced Dan and struck in his 1st over trapping the number 8 LBW. Mathan then came back on for his last 2 overs and in his last over got the number 7 batsman out caught and bowled, 109-8. Tommy Smith then came back on for his last 2 overs and in his last over bowled the number 10 before a mix up saw the number 11 batsman run out by Farzan Dulker Nain as the opposition were bowled out for 129.

Another decent performance from the Village saw them win their 5th game in 6. The skippers knock of 69 proved to be the match winning contribution but he was ably assisted by Pete Jaffe and Mohamed Salahudeen. The total could have been a lot more as there were 5 ducks in the Village innings along with a hat trick, which halted the momentum. The bowlers all bowled nicely and all chipped in with wickets with the pick being Mathan Mahalingam with 3 wickets and Dan Penny with 2 wickets respectively to ease to a comfortable enough victory in the end.