A day wrought with incredibly strong wind and rain, Saturday marked the 5th last game of the season against top of the table MTSCC. The opposition won the toss and elected to bat first.

The MTSCC openers went out with an attacking mindset, and took the risky aerial route to pile on the runs early on. Bowling and fielding was made especially difficult by the strong winds which greatly altered the course of the ball. After a number of close calls, Abs eventually made the breakthrough, starting the trend which lead to more wickets falling in succession. This was helped further by Will McLoughlin’s brilliant effort with the ball, taking 3 wickets while conceding only 31 off his 11 overs.

Paused briefly by a torrential downpour, MTSCC had a very capable middle to lower order, with all batsmen taking the same approach to batting. Thanks to a great bowling and fielding effort in tough conditions, we managed to restrict them to 195-9 off 48 overs, with 3 wickets a piece for Will and Abs and a single wicket each for Sarfaraz, Ankit and Shrey.

The Southgate innings began in a bad way, and with a few early wickets, we found ourselves at 7-3. Then in came Richard Bishop-Laggett and Harvey Lowe. Looking solid, they steadied the innings and stayed in as required, before falling for 10 and 13 respectively. Next in was Dan and Ankit, both of whom played the perfect role to set up the draw. Dan played a captain’s innings, scoring 30 not out, and although Ankit scored fewer runs, he was integral to supporting the innings and acting as an anchor for the majority of the remaining overs. (editors note: Ankit scored 4 from 43 balls, which was exactly what was needed!)

The match ended in a draw, with Southgate finishing on 76-7 after 44 overs.

Shrey Parmar