Mill Hill Village 3rd XI
Matches
Sat 08 Jun 2019  ·  Regional Division A East
Hatfield & Crusaders III
149/4
144/9
Mill Hill Village Cricket Club
Mill Hill Village 3rd XI
First defeat of the season for 3rd XI

First defeat of the season for 3rd XI

Phil Smith12 Jun 2019 - 11:54
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Club unbeaten record in league falls

The most important moment of the day happened even before the match got underway. Rarely has a toss been more critical. The Roe Hill park pitch was looking like a thinly grassed moist mud patch as the Captain's took to the middle. Batting on it wasn't going to be easy at any time but the first couple of hours always looked to be the most difficult and so it proved. The Hatfield and Crusaders 3rd XI home skipper had no hesitation inviting the Village to bat when the coin come down in their favour. If anything the pitch played even worse than it looked with balls of the same length either rearing up to head height or scuttling along past the ankles. It was extremely difficult to get bat on ball and almost impossible to time anything well.

The Hatfield and Crusaders attack made good use of the conditions, putting the ball in the areas from which it would be very difficult to attack, which was basically anywhere other than too full. At drinks after 20 overs the score was 44-4 with only Piers Jenkins (32) offering much resistance. It was a fine day for drying though, with sunshine and a breeze so stiff that most of the match had to be played without bails. As a result the pitch dried out considerably as the day wore on and whilst it was never exactly a road, it certainly settled down for the latter part of the Village innings and of course for the whole of the home side innings. The visiting Village batting line actually did an excellent job in the circumstances, of batting the whole 40 over innings and getting the score up to 144, with Mo Salahudeen the mainstay, contributing an excellent 57 with some lusty blows.

It was a least a target to bowl at.

It was never enough though. Despite a valiant effort by the opening attack, Alam Khan and Karan Gupta, the hosts managed to weather the storm and keep sufficient wickets in hand to attack the change bowlers. Tommy Smith (2-32) was the most successful of the options tried. Not much went to hand in the field and the few chances that did were shelled by the Village fielders. It was an off day both in terms of luck and performance.

The Village attack managed to remove 4 of the opposition ranks before the score was overhauled with about 6 overs to spare. Credit to the number 3 bat for the opposition, who rode some early luck and then took full control, ending 57 not out and wrestling the match firmly away from the Village. He was probably the pick of the bowlers for the home side too. Phil Smith's men were not good enough on the day to overcome the conditions, the opposition and the rub of the green, which all went against them this week. Better days lie ahead.

Match details

Match date

Sat 08 Jun 2019

Kickoff

13:00

Competition

Regional Division A East
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Club Sponsor - PJ Financial Services