The 1st XI progressed to the next round of The Village Cup after a 87 run win over Binfield on Sunday. Whilst on paper a convincing victory, things didn't go all our way as Binfield reduced us to 115 for 5 but a useful partnership between Kurran Mangat (45) and Richard Lucas (49) helped post a competitive total of 230 for 9 from our 40 overs. Earlier Yasir Qureshi had also scored 49 while Jake Richardson (20), Tom Bibby (17) and Faaez Shamsi (12) also made some contributions.
Binfield lost wickets at regular intervals throughout their chase so always looked unlikely to chase down that total. The wickets were shared around with Simon Foster claiming 3-33 while Sim Mangat, Sohil Mangat and Yasir Qureshi all claimed two each. Binfield's middle order all made starts but no-one was able to kick on and they were ultimately bowled out for 143 in the 30th over. Next up will be Wargrave on 14th May as we look to improve on our Quarter Final appearance in last year's competition!
Saturday saw two wins over Eversley in the final week of pre-season fixtures. Eversley were all out for 140 with Arun Brar the pick of the bowlers with 4-27. The match marked returning Zimbabwean overseas player Tapiwa Mufudza's first appearance of the season. Fresh off a flight from the previous day he braved the cold to claim 2 for 11 from 7 overs. Chris Marrow was in typically brutal form as he smashed 85 as the target was chased down for the loss of only two wickets and with over 15 overs remaining. Tom Fray (37) and youngster Taine Richards (22*) also got some useful time in the middle ahead of the league season.
The 2nd XI one by one wicket thanks to the nerves of steel from Isaac Richardson. As ever the man for a run-chase, Isaac notched up his highest score for the club with 44 not out. The match was won with a six from Murad Alam as we chased down Eversley's score of 151. Murad was also the pick of the bowlers as he claimed 4-21 from his 8 overs.
The league season starts this Saturday and we will be back up to four sides. The 1st XI travel to Cove after relegation from the Home Counties Premier League last season and will be looking to quickly put last year's struggles behind them. The 2nd XI under new captain Richard Lucas host Amersham 3s who were promoted to Division 4b for this season. The 3rd XI have a tricky looking match against Burnham 4s at Odney after clinching a third promotion in four seasons last year while the 4ths head to Cove 5s in Division 9a.