Perfect Performance

Photo is of James Wheeler and Sherissa Gumbs who both scored their first half centuries for the club as The Third Team won by 10 wickets at Harefield.

Stand in captain Dan Boniface won the toss and had no hesitation in asking our hosts to bat first at their beautiful yet pocket sized ground. Our opening attack of Angus Cumming and Tristen Murrell put on a perfect display of new ball bowling as the hosts were quickly reduced to 17-4 with three of our victims clean bowled and the other caught brilliantly by Stuart Quilliam at second slip.

With Harefield struggling, their fifth wicket pair of Oliver Stadler and Jaskirat Singh stood up to our bowling and launched a counter attack forcing Boniface to bring on himself and left arm seamer Ed Pike. Boniface struck with his opening delivery dismissing the young and talented Stadler LBW and breaking their resistance. Singh continued to resist by playing some big shots, he was eventually dismissed for a big hitting 38 caught superbly by Murrell off the bowling of Pike.

We continued to pick up wickets with a combination of tight bowling and excellent fielding with Quilliam once again taking a brilliant catch at second slip off the bowling of Pike. With Harefield eight wickets down, Boniface brought back Cumming who ended the innings by clean bowling Higgins and Singh with successive deliveries to leave him on a hat-trick for next weekend. Cumming finished with 4-44 and he is now joint leading wicket-taker in the League with 20 wickets.

Our hosts total of 139 looked a long way below par on a small ground with lightening quick outfield and our opening pair of James Wheeler and Sherisa Gumbs were in no mood to give Harefield a sniff. Wheeler was the more fluent to begin with finding the boundary both sides of wicket on a regular basis while Gumbs, who was playing her first game of the season took a little longer to get into her stride before starting to show her talent with some brutal hitting.

Wheeler brought up his half century with a trademark sweep shot, his first for the club after joining last summer from Bessborough. With three runs required, Gumbs pulled Singh over midwicket for six to give us victory and to also bring up her first half century for the club.

The Third Team remain in second place in the League and eight points behind leaders Slough. They have back to back home games against Barnes Wild Geese and Farnham Common in next two weeks.