The 3s were at home for the last game of the season against league leaders Bushey.
The opposition skipper called correctly and asked the Village to have a bat.
James Thompson (16) & Piers Jenkins (34) opened the batting and the pair played nicely to see off the opening bowlers and still score at a decent rate. The pair would bring up yet another 50 run partnership between them and looked like doubling that before the skipper attempted a pull shot that hit high on the bat and he was caught at mid wicket. Aakif Mafahir (52) was the next man in and he looked good as he was able to play his shots from the word go. Piers was the next man to go as he was adjudged LBW in the 20th over which saw Mohamed Salahudeen (0) stride to the crease but he only lasted 3 balls as he was caught in the same over as the Village were 85-3 at the half way point. Anand Verma (16) joined Aakif at the crease and the pair would put on 58 for the 4th wicket in little over 5 overs as both were easily able to locate the boundary. Aakif brought up a well deserved 50 before Anand was bowled to bring in Sanket Shah (2) who could only last until the next over as he was bowled, 143-5. This would soon become 143-7 in the next over as firstly Aakif was bowled and then Sam Hare (0) was given out LBW. Tommy Smith (20*) and Karan Gupta (9) then combined to score 17 in 4 overs before Karan was caught. Nick Demarco (0) was next man in and out as he was caught which brought Harry Arjan (6) to join Tommy for the last wicket. The pair put on a valuable 19 runs before Harry was caught leaving Tommy the not out batsman for the 4th consecutive game. The Village had been bowled out for 183 in the 38th over which was a vast improvement on the previous 2 weeks batting attempts.
Karan Gupta (3-55) & Tommy Smith (0-35) opened the bowling and it was clear that Bushey were in a hurry to get the runs needed for victory as the openers cut loose and were able to find the boundary even if a lot of the shots were aerial. Karan would strike in the 3rd over thanks to a good catch from Nick Demarco at square leg but he was fairly expensive so the skipper decided to introduce Aakif Mafahir (4-21). This would have instant success as in his 2nd over he bowled the number 2 batsman, 68-2 off of 11 overs. Tommy continued to bowl well and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket in his spell but it was Aakif who would strike in his 4th over as he trapped the number 3 batsman LBW, 95-3 off 15 overs. Sam Hare (1-37) had replaced Tommy and got into a nice rhythm and was causing the batsman problems. Aakif then got his 3rd as he bowled the number 5 batsman before Sam would bowl the number 6 batsman in the next over as Bushey were 116-5 off of 22 overs. Sam's last over would see another wicket fall thanks to a good throw from Sanket Shah which Sam collected and removed the bails to run out the number 7. Mohamed Salahudeen (0-31) had already replaced Aakif at one end before Aakif swapped ends and took over form Sam to bowl his last over. This would prove a good choice as he trapped the number 4 batsman as Bushey were 147-7 off of 28 overs. Karan then replaced Aakif and he would get the next 2 wickets to fall as he bowled the number 8 & 9 batsmen in consecutive overs, 171-9 off of 34 overs. The opposition skipper was resolute and would steer Bushey home in the 37th over to conclude a thoroughly enjoyable match.
A much better all round performance from the Village saw Aakif Mafahir score a maiden half century with good knocks from Piers Jenkins and Tommy Smith to reach a competitive total. Aakif would round off a man of the match performance with 4 wickets and along with Karan getting 3 wickets, the Village had a sniff of victory against the eventual strong champions of the division. The 3s would end the league in 9th.