Result: WON by 66 runs
Toss: CB elected to bat!!
The friendly and organised crew from Bovingdon arrived as usual with the welcome sight of their scorer and umpire which really makes the game so much easier and enjoyable for us.
Even more helpfully, their skipper called wrong at the toss and Chesham Bois duly elected to bat. Paul and Alex opened another strong looking batting lineup as along with the help of a few extras, the score had been pushed up to 46 before Alex was caught for a lively 11. Paul (35) was next to go at the 78 run mark with Luke (53) and Rajiv (10) pushing the score up to 108 in the 22nd over. Batting wasn't proving that easy with some sideways movement and slightly uneven bounce. Luke left with the score on 136 having racked up a much more customary 53 as Gaurav (18) was briefly joined by David B (3) who can never be accused of playing defensively. Ali and Ollie came together in what proved to be the crucial partnership as they took the score from 149 to 229. We had earlier been looking at 250 as a target score, but as the wickets fell, anything over 200 suddenly felt like a good score. Ollie hit 16 as the pair added 80 runs in only 8 overs. Ali's worst nightmares were confirmed as the skipper, and last wicket, strode to the crease with 9 balls remaining. Under strict orders, and a reminder from Ali of the potential points a cricket bat can be inserted into the human body, the skipper duly blocked the last 3 deliveries of the penultimate over. Ali then smashed 22 off the last over, including 2 sixes, finishing on 81 not out as he continued his great run of form with the bat. 270 for 9 off our 40 overs and a great target to defend.
Arjun (8-0-1-41) and the frugal Rajiv (8-3-29-0) opened our attack and whilst initially wicketless, the scoring rate was kept under control. Luke replaced Arjun for the 9th over as he made the initial inroads onto their batting lineup finishing with 2 for 38 from his 6 overs. Ollie has been introduced from the other end and was super mean as he went for only 28 runs in his 8 overs, taking a wicket whilst also having to defend the short leg side boundary. After drinks, Ashay took his chance to get some overs in with a great spell ending with 0 for 35 in his 5 overs against batsmen who were aggressively looking to get back up with the scoring rate. Gaurav (4-0-18-3) will be rightfully happy with his four overs, as were we, and even Paul (1-0-2-2) got a couple of wickets in the penultimate over. Arjun meanwhile had swapped ends and seemingly upped his pace as he removed the last batsman who might have got them anywhere near the asking rate in the 6th of his 8 overs. Bovingdon closed on 204 for 9 leaving us with a win by 66 runs.
Fielding was tidy again, with only 1 catch by Paul, who claimed the perfect cricket hattrick, got runs, took a catch and then bowled 2 wickets.........
Innings of CHESHAM BOIS
Batsman How Out Runs
1. Paul Withams LBW 35
2. Mahen Alexander bowled 11
3. Luke Dawson bowled 53
4. Rajiv Walia bowled 10
5. Guarav Walia caught 18
6. David Burton caught 3
7. Ali Kerai not out 81
8. Ollie Haines bowled 16
9. Arjun Walia caught 0
10 Ashay Walia caught 0
11 Jed O'Brien not out 0
Extras B 15 LB 7 W 18 NB 3 43
TOTAL: 270 for 9 Overs 40
Innings of BOVINGDON
Extras B 10 LB 5 W 9 NB 5 24
TOTAL: 204 for 9 Overs 40
Bowler Overs Mdns Runs Wkts
1. Arjun Walia 8 0 41 1
2. Rajiv Walia 8 0 29 0
3. Luke Dawson 6 0 38 2
4.Ollie Haines 8 0 28 1
5. Ashay Walia 5 0 35 0
6. Guarav Walia 4 0 18 3
7. Paul Withams 1 0 2 2
CATCHES: 1 - Paul
STUMPING: Jed