1s bounce back in promotion push

The first eleven travelled to Allenbury's & County Hall CC looking to bounce back from their narrow defeat against St Margaretsbury.

With the recent weather, the outfield was scorched and the pitch dry & dusty, a good toss to win, bat first in the afternoon sun. As expected, Allenbury's won the toss and duly batted.

Busby opened the bowling and it took a mere four balls for him to make the breakthrough as he moved the ball across the opening bat, drawing an edge that was safely caught by Scutt behind the stumps. The 1s had to wait a long time for the next breakthrough as Allenbury's batted sensibly moving the score onto 118-1 through 34 overs. The breakthrough came courtesy of a run out following the introduction of a runner due to injury. A dicey single was called, Buzzer swooped, collected the ball and effected a direct hit. The third wicket followed shortly, as Kazi had the number three caught by Dom at mid-wicket, two new batters, with time was running out, the 1s were ready to apply the pressure.

Shaun (1-33) was next to get in on the act when he was rewarded for an excellent spell of disciplined bowling, having the number four caught behind by Scutt. At 136-4, the 1s were looking to profit from their discipline, Busby & Kazi coming together to finish the last 10 overs and boy did they bowl well. Busby took the next two wickets (1 x LBW & 1 x bowled) with Kazi ( taking the eighth wicket, leaving Allenbury's on 166-8. There was a late charge as the Allenbury's number 8 added 24 including three fours & one six before Busby (5-30) wrapped up the innings with two more wickets to claim a five-wicket haul.

So 191 to win and the 1s would bounce back to continue their pursuit of promotion. Jimmy & Vish opened up and having reached 38-0 without loss, all was well. Unfortunately, both fell within a few runs of each other, and Shaun wasn't far behind as the 1s fell to 53-3.

Kazi and Komol (25) added a much needed 39 to steady the chase before the latter fell as the required runs fell to double figures. Pablo joined the crease and played the anchor role which freed up Kazi to go on the attack. The pair added 70 for the fifth wicket which settled the nerves of the team until regrettably, Pablo was run out with the team needing 31 for victory. What could've been a tricky finish to the game was nothing of the sort, as Dom Goring strode to the crease, struck several boundaries. The innings belonged to Kazi though, he provided the reassurance at the beginning of his innings before taking command towards the end, finishing 93 not out as the 1s secured another vital 30 points.

Onto Radlett next week who have recorded four consecutive wins.

#comeonyoueees #Kazisonfire #Busbysonfire