Great game won at the death

The 3s were up against Berkhamsted III on a beautiful sunny day at the equally beautiful surroundings of Berkhamsted.

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

James Thompson (74) and Piers Jenkins (9) opened the batting and started slowly. Piers was the first man to go as he was given out LBW to bring Sanket Shah (16) to the crease. He and the skipper were both watchful as the opening bowlers were seen off with the score 40-1 off of 10 overs. The pitch was playing quite slow due to rain overnight and with the next couple of bowlers bowling a decent line and length it was difficult to score freely, but the two brought up a 50 partnership. As the drinks break approached, Sanket tried to steer one past the bowler and sneak a single but the skipper called him back but he was run out with the score on 73-2. Craig Atkinson (3) was the next man into join the skipper and he was looking to get on top of the spinner but did not seem comfortable at the crease and was stumped as he missed one going down the track. Inthi Mazeez (5) was next in and stayed with the skipper for 8 overs but he also could not get the spinner away and he suffered the same fate as Craig and was stumped, leaving the Village 123-3 off of 30 overs. Mo Salahudeen (20) was next in and the score started to steadily creep up as the pair set about posting a decent total. The skipper brought up a deserved 50 with a boundary and was grateful to the opposition for dropping him 3 times. Mo was beginning to get to grips with the pitch and he and the skipper started to run hard and find boundaries to push the score over 170. The skipper would be bowled from the first ball of the last over as he was looking to hit out to extend the score, which meant that Paul Simpson (3*) joined Mo with a few balls remaining. The pair would put on a few more runs before Mo was run out on the last ball attempting a 2nd run as the Village posted a decent 176-6, off of their allotted overs.

Alam Khan (1-16) and debutante Vishva Cooray (1-30) opened the bowling and Alam would strike in his 3rd over bowling the number 2 batsman. The number 1 & 3 batsmen for Berkhamsted then set about the total with aplomb and with help from some indifferent bowling. Inthi Mazeez (1-24) replaced Vishva and was not able to provide the skipper with any control early on. Alam bowled nicely in his first spell of 6 overs and only conceded 15 runs. Devraj Ray (0-21) then bowled a bit of leg spin to see if he could stem the flow of runs. Craig Atkinson (0-16) and Sanket Shah (0-14) would briefly bowl but after the 22 over, Berkhamsted were seemingly cruising to victory as they were 113-1. Mo Salahudeen (4-22) then replaced Craig and finally the skipper had some control as he bowled a decent spell and with Harry Arjan (1-20) coming on at the other end the breakthrough came. First, Harry trapped the number 3 batsmen LBW for 59 and then in the very next over the number 1 batsman who was on his way to 50 picked out Harry at point to give Mo his first wicket, 132-3. Mo would get his 2nd wicket in his next over as Alam was given a simple chance at mid wicket. The skipper sensed that the game might be turning and brought Alam back on to bowl his last 2 overs, and these would go for just 1 run. Mo would get another wicket as he bowled the number 5 batsman and with Inthi coming back onto replace Alam, he would pick up the next wicket as he bowled the number 6 batsman, his last 3 overs also only went for 1 run as Berkhamsted were 154-6 off of 36 overs and needing 23 for victory. Mo would get his 4th wicket as the skipper took a regulation catch behind the stumps before panic ensued as 2 run outs courtesy of good fielding from both Inthi and Mo had the home side 161-9. The penultimate over was bowled by Dev as he changed to seem up and this would only go for 4 runs as Berkhamsted needed 16 to win from the last over. Vishva was tasked with the last over but his first 2 balls were to short and were pulled away for 6 runs, thankfully though Vishva bowled the number 11 with 2 balls to spare as the Village had come back to post a victory.

An excellent display with the bat saw the Village firstly bat their overs but also post a competitive target mainly thanks to James Thompson's 74 and a useful 20 from Mo to give the tail end of the innings some impetus. The Village struggled for long periods with their bowling as no one could give the skipper any control and so he was forced to chop and change to see if he could earn a wicket. Mo Salahudeen was the star with the ball as his 4 wickets changed the game and somehow Berkhamsted went from 128-1 to 168 all out as the Village wrestled control back and picked up crucial wickets at key times to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The Village would end the day 4th in the table.