Mill Hill Village 3rd XI
Matches
Sat 13 Jul 2019  ·  Regional Division A East
Mill Hill Village Cricket Club
Mill Hill Village 3rd XI
182/7
181/9
Hertingfordbury II
3rd XI go 2nd with great winning chase

3rd XI go 2nd with great winning chase

Phil Smith15 Jul 2019 - 23:43
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Bandwagon keeps rolling with 4th win in a row for the 3s

With the regular 3rd XI captain on stag do duties in Ireland, Mo Valiji was the man at the helm for this home game against Hertingfordbury II. This was the first of the reverse fixtures and the 3s had won their last 3 matches as well as beating this opposition in the opening league game of the season, so confidence was high. The stand-in skipper stuck to the recent successful formula and elected to bowl first having won the toss.

It looked like a well justified decision as early pressure from opening bowlers Andrew Godfrey and Tommy Smith kept the batting side down to 16-1 after 8 overs. This early pressure eased a little which allowed the No.3 bat to build a couple of decent partnerships to get his side to 73-2 after 17. In need of a breakthrough, Mo turned to young Sam Hare who swiftly took 2 wickets, to make the score a much more pleasing 81-4 at drinks. The pressure continued after the break as George Leggett trapped the No.3 bat LBW and some good catching brought the score to 96-6 after 25 overs. Most on the home side expected to rattle through the tail and to be chasing a low total, however the No.7 bat had other ideas. With spin at both ends, the No.7 started to charge down the track and hit several boundaries, including 16 in 1 over to Mo Valiji. Mo bravely took on another over and bowled a much better one, although the scorecard will show it went for more! Fielders were spread liberally on the leg-side boundary and immediately two catches were presented by the aggressive No.7 bat and both were duly dropped in the same over. The first bounced out the fielders hands and went for 6 and the other bounced out of a team mates hands and went for 4.

An innings that at one point looked to be staying under 120 soared up to 181 before the No.7 was finally caught out by the skipper in the last over. Sam Hare who finished with 3-17 off 6 overs and Godders with 2-21 off 7.1 overs were the standout bowlers. At the halfway point, the Village home side were feeling that the momentum had very much swung aganst them and reflecting on some significant dropped catches. 21 wides bowled were also a contributory factor, as a potentially small chase had suddenly turned into a big one.

No one in the line up had opened the batting thus far this season. Rachit Chawla and Duane Perera offered to start the chase off. Both batsmen looked pretty solid but both had to head for the changing rooms early, after identically chipping a low full toss off a wily old slow bowler to mid on. Hopes of completing the run chase rested largely on the shoulders of No.3 Matt Hawkes and No.4 Sanket Shah. Both made decent starts but then got out which left the 3s teetering at 63-4 after 17 overs. This brought No.5 Mo Valiji and No.6 Sunny Patel to the crease and they managed to build a solid partnership of 46 before Sunny chipped one up to mid-off. As so often happens, 'one brings two' and No.7 departed without troubling the scorers. Tommy Smith came to the crease with the score at 110-6 after 27 overs. Tommy (22) and Mo built a fairly slow but crucial 40 run partnership to give the team a chance of getting over the line in the final few overs. Tommy was then bowled trying to accelerate the rate. Sam Hare then came in and capped off a fantastic all round performance. He batted superbly, hitting 22 runs off just 10 balls to give the Village chase the impetus it needed at a vital time and securing victory in the final over, by 3 wickets and with just 3 balls to spare.

This was a really well timed chase as the Village held their nerve to get over the line in a tight contest. Mo struck a great captain's innings of 63 not out, navigating some difficult moments, with partnerships of 46, 40 and 32 with Nos.6, 8 & 9. A fourth win in a row puts the 3rd XI at second place in the division. With only one team assured of promotion it remains a stiff challenge but title hopes are very much alive. This game may not have been quite as tight or momentous as the England chase of the following day but in its way, it was equally satisfying. What a great weekend of cricket!

Match details

Match date

Sat 13 Jul 2019

Kickoff

13:00

Competition

Regional Division A East
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