Round 5 review…
Five weeks of league action have already flown by as Acton registered one win out of four on Saturday alongside a Sunday victory in the first round of the Bertie Joel trophy.
The first team played against Twickenham CC at home with skipper Sahil Kher electing to bat first upon winning the toss.However, the batting failed to get going as a slow start soon led to a middle order collapse with the opposition’s off spinner Don Manuwelge taking five consecutive wickets. Some late order hitting from Sam Harvey - which included three final over sixes against Manuwelge - helped Acton to post 166 after their 45 overs.
A pair of early strikes from both Sam Harvey and Noah Harvey had Acton right in the game before an excellent 59 from Manuwelge put Twickenham back in the driving seat. However, Acton kept pushing all the way as Raghavendra Ravikumar took 4 wickets in the middle with the target eventually completed 7 wickets down, meaning the home side took away a consolation bonus point.
The second eleven were put in to bat first away at Harrow Town as thirties from Yasir Mehmood, Viren Nain and Nazim Munna alongside a quickfire 62 from James Catlow-Elliot helped get Acton to a large total of 272.
An early wicket for Frankie Zahran started the bowling innings nicely, but regular partnerships kept Harrow Town in the game. A swift middle order collapse involving a pair of run outs had the home side fall from 173 for 5 to 211 for 9 as the game looked over with still 63 runs left and just one wicket remaining. However, a fifty from number nine Mark Jadunath and an unbeaten 29 from the number eleven helped Harrow Town to sneak across the finish line in the last over of the game.
The third team faced up against neighbours Shepherd’s Bush as Archie Mullen made a very conservative 31 before a run-a-ball fifty from Rakib Hossain got Acton to 168 at the end of the innings.
Aryan Patel struck first for the Acorns before Miles Murphy took the next four wickets as he ended with figures of 12 overs, 1 Maiden, 4 wickets for just 37 runs. He then also contributed in one of the two run outs that followed as a pair of Tim Matthews bowled dismissals got Acton the win by a narrow eight runs.
It was less bright for the fourth eleven who only managed 97 batting first away at Twickenham with Mark Maksic and Masum Ahmed the only batters to reach double figures. Twickenham then made light work of the chase by completing it inside 13 overs with just one wicket down.
Finally playing the first round of the Bertie-Joel trophy, Acton faced Finchley at home and made 236 headlined by 81 from opener Viren Nain. Three wickets each for Sam Harvey and Raghavendra kept Acton ahead in the game throughout as Finchley fell short by 46 runs.
Player of the Week
Viren Nain – 38 and 2 for 36 vs Harrow Town alongside 81 vs Finchley
Fantasy League Top Performers
Viren Nain – 113 Points
Miles Murphy – 107 Points
Sam Harvey – 105 Points
Raghavendra Ravikumar – 105 Points