Mill Hill Village 3rd XI
Matches
Sat 03 Aug 2019  ·  Regional Division A East
Knebworth Park IV
117/9
119/4
Mill Hill Village Cricket Club
Mill Hill Village 3rd XI
3s hit the top of the table with another win

3s hit the top of the table with another win

Phil Smith4 Aug 2019 - 19:57
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Knebworth Park IVs are dispatched with relative ease

This was a routine victory for the Village 3s against Knebworth Park who were without a win and who had already conceded 7 games this season. It was good to get back playing following last week's concession by St Margaretsbury. Phil Smith, lost the toss again and the opposition chose to bat first on a good looking wicket in the shadow of the majestic Knebworth House.

After Karan Gupta's early breakthrough with an excellent ball that nipped back through the opener's 'gate', the opposition proceeded to score at a steady rate to reach 58-1 after 15 overs. Jack Dormer got a timely breakthrough, managing to bowl the aggressive No.3 who was pulling powerfully into the leg side but then inexplicably missed a ball similar to all the others he had hit. The Village fielding display was unusually lethargic, perhaps because of the humidity but more likely because of the perceived lack of challenge from the opposition.

It soon became clear that after the top 3 or 4 batsman, KPCC IVs didn't really have the fire power to build a total likely to be large enough to trouble the Village. The home side skipper scored a patient 24 as he tried to nurse the middle and lower order line up, many of whom were juniors, both boys and girls, through the allotted overs. Credit should be given that they did actually manage to bat the full 40 overs without getting bowled out. This despite a couple of fine spells from Sam Hare (4-14) who was the pick of the bowlers and Joe Sheridan (2-9) both of whom bowled their full 8 overs very tidily. Hassib Sayed also chipped in with a wicket in his 5 overs. The home side innings ended on 117-9.

There was about 45 years between the two opening bowlers from Knebworth. Both the young colt and the wily old pro offered some threat with a swinging ball but in truth they lacked any real penetration. Phil Smith and Piers Jenkins (19) put on 77 for the opening partnership and the game was as good as won by the time the first wicket fell in the 15th over. 3 more wickets were lost cheaply and the total had limped to 93-4 but any thoughts of a collapse were firmly shut out by a breezy 21 not out from Joe Sheridan. He saw the game home with the skipper Phil Smith unbeaten on 59 at the other end. Another 30 points in the bag with a comfortable victory brought up in the 27th over.

Knebworth Park were a friendly and hospitable bunch who seem to have a nice atmosphere around the Club, despite their teams struggling to compete in their respective divisions this season. We wish them well for the future.

Match details

Match date

Sat 03 Aug 2019

Kickoff

13:00

Competition

Regional Division A East
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Club Sponsor - PJ Financial Services