Batting woes continue for 3s

There were few excuses for the batting performance that cost the 3rd XI a chance of victory against rivals Datchworth IIIs this week, in the first vs second clash at the top of the table. Phil Smith lost yet another toss and was invited to bat first again and he was first to go feathering an edge through to the keeper. A succession of batsman failed to cope with the slow and tacky pitch conditions, with most chipping up catches either tamely to the infield, or foolishly into the deep. Alam Khan's 24 was top score for the Village and Piers Jenkins made 22 but no one contributed anything significant enough to post a target of substance. Had the home side managed to bat their full allocation of overs, the total achieved may well have been sufficient.

When it came to the bowling effort, the Village were their usual tight and attacking selves. Pressure was brought to bare and for a while it looked like even the 124 target set might prove a challenge for the wobbling Datchworth line up. In the end though, the visitors skipper stayed resolute and saw them home with 5 wickets to spare. It was telling that it took the chasing side several more overs to secure the victory than the home side to set the target. Failing to bat 40 overs is criminal and we cannot expect to win many matches if we can't bat the overs. With the bowling strength available, whatever we get could be enough but the batsmen need to do more to set targets that are defendable. Inthi Mazeez was both the most successful and most expensive of the bowlers, finishing with 3-32 from his 6.1 overs. Young Sam Hare from our U15s Colts, bowled 6 overs for just 9 runs and did as much as anyone to build the pressure that so nearly turned the game in the Village's favour. Alam Khan's 1 for 14 from 8 overs was yet another excellent spell from the attack's undoubted spearhead.

This was a match played in excellent spirit against a very well organised and good cricketing team. The only grumble was the fact that one of the opposition decided to leave his noisy and smelly dog tied up to the bench for the home side to look after for the duration of their fielding innings, without even a mention about it. Nevertheless, we look forward to the return fixture where we will hope to provide an even sterner test for the team who now sit clear of the pack at the top of the division.