‘’Can’t believe we’ve snuck in 3 full games of cricket in a row when everyone is getting cancelled. My wife's genuinely starting to think I'm lying about being out of the house for 8 hours every Saturday’’ - Anon

Somehow, despite the number of games around us being cancelled for rain, there seems to be something in HD’s Friday evening rain prayers that means we’ve snuck in three (broadly) uninterrupted full league games in a row. So it was to everyone’s pleasant surprise to be part of an absorbing contest at North Acton Playing Fields that went deep into the 90th over of the day and the game to still be in the balance at 6.30pm.

We travelled to Acton CC (ACC) with a strong looking side; in particular, our bowling unit, who very much lived up to Dan’s pre-match billing- almost bringing us home in improbable circumstances. Losing the toss, ACC put us in on a wet, sticky wicket in overcast, windy and cold conditions. Opening with a strong looking combination in Usama Khan & Nihal Tomar; so it proved in the early overs. ACC’s opening pair represented a good challenge; some impressive pace at one end (rare & quite enjoyable to see some bouncers in 4s cricket) and movement at the other. Khan looked in fine fettle, middling the ball from the 1st over; while the mercurial Tomar was elegant and composed at the other end.

It was a surprise to everyone when Khan made a small misjudgement to be trapped LBW with 34 on the board. Dasgupta joined Tomar; we arguably enjoyed our best spell of the game - on a different day it might have been the match-winning platform. The pair shared a serene 76 run stand going at around 4 & 5 an over against an experienced bowling unit in tough conditions; Dasgupta's energy & positivity at the crease a good foil to Tomar's poise. HD will be pleased with the application of his batsmen playing smart cricket in 5 over blocks in pursuit of a good 1st innings total & something we will look to take into next week. Tomar looked a natural fit for a Saturday opener role - calm & compact throughout his innings plus while moving the strike along nicely.

At 110-1 from 30 overs with big hitters still to come and the quality of our bowling attack, an improbable to chase/daunting target of 190-200 was on the cards. So, the Ts will have been incredibly disappointed to have then slid from 110-1 to 118-5 in the space of the next few overs. Ultimately this was what cost us the game ; Tomar got a good delivery and shortly after Dasgupta made a costly misjudgement trying to manipulate the strike, leaving Fairn, Siriwadena & Dissanayake a tough job to acclimatise to a tricky wicket and a canny bowling attack. Some lusty and adventurous blows by Iqbal & Dassani right at the end got us to 155; but gut feel was that we might be 15-20 runs short and so it proved.

To the chase; after rousing words from the skipper, the Ts took the field with intensity and purpose. An obviously fired up Qavi bowled a hostile, accurate spell- trapping their danger man Parikh with a beautiful inswinging delivery that cleaned up middle stump. He was supported by Mehran Iqbal bowling accurately & full of variety the other end; looking forward to what Broom Road will offer to his natural prodigious movement.

During a period of solid cricket from both sides, their gun batsman Maksic looked like he was going to take the game away from us; scoring the majority of runs in an 80 run partnership. Enter the enigmatic Bosier with his first overs of the season; darting one between Maksic’s pads & sparking jubilant celebrations from the Ts; game on. It should be mentioned; Bowman’s control and miserly spell (8-2-16-0) at the other end is what led to Maksic’s wicket; bowling a beautiful spell that really deserved wickets. HD continued shuffling his pack looking for ideas; bowling himself, Siriwadena and bringing back Qavi to try and get the wickets needed.

The experienced skipper Ruis came together with Glassey and both looked like they were going to cruise ACC home until our 5.1m talisman Siriwardena’s golden arm got us Ruis’s wicket; game on again with 26 needed. Skipper Dassani then bowled the well-set opener Glassey , followed by Iqbal taking 2 quick wickets in consecutive overs leaving ACC with 12 of 18 needed & neither new batsmen looking completely comfortable. A fired-up Ts smelt an improbable victory (Dissanayake in particular was sensational in the field) –unfortunately – it wasn’t meant to be, with a couple of big hits taking it to 2 off the last over.

So; an absorbing contest that ebbed & flowed in the favour of both sides; played in good spirit, competitive and some great cricket from both teams. Fairn & Dassani gave a fantastic team talk afterwards; how we focus on the positives, that this remains very early in our season & how we very nearly defended a slightly below-par total via the quality and intensity of our bowling and fielding. HD’s team 2021 edition are forming an identity and there are sure to be many a winning match report to come as the season progresses.

Lastly - a special mention for the female consorts of Messrs Dasgupta & Tomar for baking delicious treats (and homemade samosas) for the team (Following Mama Dassani's food in previous weeks). We love to see this love and affection for the Ts!

Roll on game week 4!