Round 3 Review
A mixed weekend for the Acorns with two out of four wins on Saturday and a victory at home to kick off their Middlesex Cup campaign on Sunday.
The first team travelled up to Kenton and upon winning the toss, skipper Sahil Kher elected to field with chasing being favourable due to the small boundaries on all sides of the ground. A rollercoaster of a first innings followed as Kenton raced along at almost seven runs per over, but the visiting Acorns kept chipping away at the wicket’s column. The wholesituation best described by a bizarre but defining spell from Sohaib Arif, whose four overs following the powerplay went for 53 runs but managed to take three excellent wickets to tear through Kenton’s middle order. Three wickets at the end for Raghavendra Ravikumar then managed to close out the Kenton innings at 204 inside just 35 overs.
The real carnage was just about to begin, as James ‘Jim’ O’ Neill walked out to bat for the first time in the league this season. It didn’t start all too well for him though as he was caught behind off a no ball and was bowled off the resulting free hit. Kenton’s opening seamer was then made to pay for overstepping as O’Neill smashed 93 from just 40 deliveries, including 10 maximums. His big hitting not only sent a shower of cricket balls into every neighbouring garden in the area, but also managed to smash the car windscreen of his fellow teammate. Despite a middle order wobble, Huzaifa Yousafzai and Tushar Patel both finished unbeaten with the latter closing out a comfortable run chase with two sixes and a four.
The second team faced Richmond at home with skipper Alex Manning winning the toss and putting his side into bat. A steady start headlined by Matthew Reeve’s 62 then quickly fell apart as the Richmond seamers reduced Acton to 130 for 4. The left arm spin of James Nelson then ripped through the middle order as he claimed figures of 5-17 and the Acorns bowled out for 177 despite a resistive 37 from skipper Manning.
Early strikes from the evergreen James ‘Jambo’ Hunt and Viren Nain put the home side in a position to push on and make proper inroads into the Richmond batting lineup. However, a brilliant 103 not out for Will Hunt and an unbeaten 38 from Nathan Parkin walked Richmond to a comfortable victory.
A freshly rolled Gunnersbury Park then hosted the third eleven who batted first against Richmond and were very quickly six wickets down for not many runs. The flashbacks of recent batting collapses were very much alive but an excellent 30 from Jaimin Chaudary and an unbeaten 27 from Siddharth Turaga rescued the Acorns to a defendable total of 118.
An early run out by Chaudary and a wicket for James Kendall got the ball rolling for Acton as they looked to do what the second’s couldn’t and successfully defend a total against Richmond. Siddharth ‘Sid’ Turaga’s Saturday then got even better as he took five wickets on the trot to dismantle the visiting middle order and finish on figures of 12 overs, 2 maidens, 5 for 29. Chaudary then took two wickets himself and Kendall one more as Acton ended the Richmond innings on 88 and completed a 50 run victory.
Away to Bessborough, Peter Ruis’ fourth team found themselves chasing 208 having won the toss and chose to field first. It looked comfortable as ever at 156 for 3 with a 60 from Michael McCann and forties for Kuntal Parikh and Alex Morrisson. A swift collapse meant wickets quickly tumbled with Acton eventually needing 5 from the last ball but falling just short at the end of a thrilling encounter.
Coming into Sunday, Acton fielded a youthful side against North London at home as the Acorn’s bid to go one better than last year after losing in the final of the Middlesex Cup. Following some morning showers, the game was reduced to 35 overs per side as opener Viren Nain sped away getting a quick fire fifty before being dismissed. Useful twenties from Sahil Kher and Huzaifa Yousafzai either side of Raghav’s 45 pushed the home side to a score of 207 at the end of the innings.
Despite some early boundaries, Acton stayed in front throughout the entirety of the second innings with regular wickets from Sam and Noah Harvey as well as one for James Kendall. Raghav then spun his way through the lower and middle order as North London were bowled out for 143 and Acton move into the next round of the Middlesex Cup.
Player of the Week
Siddharth Turaga – 27 Not Out and 5-29 vs Richmond CC
Fantasy Top Performers
Siddharth Turaga – 213 Points
James O’ Neill – 158 Points
Jaimin Chaudhari – 125 Points
Michael McCann – 125 Points