3's back to winning ways

The 3's were looking to get back to winning ways against Shenley Village IV at home after 2 straight defeats to the teams 1st & 2nd in the division respectively.

The toss was won by the opposition who asked the Village to bat.

James Thompson (20) and Pete Jaffe (119*) opened the batting and started well as runs were easy to come by. The pair had put on a 50 run partnership in only the 7th over thanks in part to Pete who was finding the boundary with ease. At 77-0 after 12 overs the signs were looking ominous that a big score was looming as Pete had already passed his fifty before the skipper was the 1st wicket to fall as he got the thinnest of inside edges which was caught well by the keeper diving to his left. Lawrence Bird (3) was next in but he only lasted a couple of overs before he was bowled, which brought Sanket Shah (1) to the crease. He would fall the very next over as he was caught behind to bring David Halsey (0) to the crease but he was bowled as the Village had gone from 77-0 to 91-4 in the space of 4 overs. Bilal Baree (27), making his debut for the Village was the next man in to support Pete who was looking good. Bilal was playing his shots and getting success as he managed to find the boundaries with Pete taking a back seat in a 40 run partnership in the space of just 5 overs before Bilal was eventually caught. Paul Simpson (30) was next in and he and Pete produced the best partnership of the day. Pete was still looking imperious and was able to provide the stability throughout the innings which the 3rd XI sometimes lack. Pete was on 88 when he produced a straight six to move to 94 and then after a single produced another straight 6 to bring up a well deserved 100. The pair put on 82 for the 6th wicket before Paul was out in the 36th over as he was caught. Gabriel Radus (20*) was the next man in and with only 4 overs left in the innings and with his skipper advising him to let loose he produced a string of boundaries to get the Village to an impressive 243-6 off their allotted overs, with Pete Jaffe carrying his bat throughout the innings.

Tommy Smith (1-37) and Mathan Mahalingam (0-37) opened the bowling for the Village. Tommy started nicely but Mathan was expensive and so the skipper replaced him with Bilal Baree (2-28). As per the Village innings the runs were flowing as Shenley got off to a quick start but that was soon curtailed thanks to Tommy bowling their number 1 batsman through the gate. Bilal got the next wicket to fall as Pete Jaffe took a good catch at 1st slip to remove the number 3 for the opposition. Chalky Cara (3-38) had replaced Tommy after his opening 5 overs and in his 3rd over got the next wicket as the number 2 batsman who was looking dangerous was caught off a top edge by Lawrence Bird behind the stumps to leave Shenley, 78-3 off of 15 overs. Sanket Shah (1-31) replaced Bilal who was tiring after 5 overs and his 1st over went for a few but thankfully the skipper left him on and in his next over had bowled the number 5 batsman as Shenley were 95-4. A partnership began to develop between the number 4 & 6 batsman and at 111-4 at drinks and then 140-4 off of 25 overs all results were still possible, especially as Paul Simpson had gone off and would not return as he had taken a blow to the eye after dropping a catch. The skipper turned back to Bilal who in the next over had the number 6 caught by Sanket Shah at mid off before 2 overs later the number 2 batsman was run out by Mathan Mahalingam courtesy of some smart work and a direct hit from point. Tommy had come back on at the other end to see out his remaining overs and James Thompson (1-10) replaced Bilal from the far end. The skipper brought about the next wicket to fall courtesy of another catch by Sanket Shah before Chalky came back on and in his 6th over got 2 wickets, both bowled to leave the opposition 189-9. It was then left to Sanket Shah to wrap up the innings as the last man was run out thanks to a mix up and the Village had wrapped a comfortable victory.

Star performance was Pete Jaffe with his unbeaten century who was the bedrock of the Village innings. Useful knocks from James Thompson, Bilal Baree, Paul Simpson and Gabriel Radus ensured the Village had an imposing target to defend. The bowlers all toiled a bit, thanks in part to having only 10 in the field but Chalky Cara and Bilal Baree picked up 5 wickets between them, with Bilal looking impressive on debut and Tommy Smith opened the bowling impressively. I should also mention Sanket Shah who not only took a wicket, but 2 catches and a run out in a good display.