For the second time in two weeks, the 1s successfully completed a chase to stay in touch in a very tight promotion race. Losing the toss on a roasting hot day, Finchley were put into the field and stuck at their task admirably. Buoyed by an excellent wicket with pace and carry, Seb and Dave put together a threatening opening spell, which eventually found its reward as Dave castled the Osterley skipper. Two overs later and Osterley were 30-3, as Seb let out a roar to mark the end of his wicket drought. A successful powerplay for Finchley was made even better as Joe joined with his first wicket of the year, locating another shin to leave Osterley 50-4. The Osterley lower order fought hard and hit some massive dingers to take them further towards a competitive total, but the Finchley spinners were able to keep the scoring under control. Dave finished off the innings excellently, so despite a fightback Osterley finished comfortably below par at 206-9 off their 45 overs.

Gish and Caleb flew out the blocks for Finchley, putting the 1s firmly ahead in the game. Gish took a liking to the Osterley overseas, dispatching a succession of no balls to the boundary before being given out in questionable circumstances later in the over. Caleb and Tom put on 50 to take the score to 100-1, and with the pair in total control victory was in sight. A collective brain explosion, however, saw the Finch collapse to 109-5, to keep teammates and onlookers on their toes. Some excellent batting from Joe, Matt and Seb saw the boys home to secure a vital 10 points. The trio showed great skill and maturity to guide the 1s home, in what ultimately proved a comfortable chase, either side of a spectacular collapse with 100 to win. With a 6th win in 7 games, the 1s are now just one point behind both 1st and 2nd in the table. All to play for over a big final 3 weeks!

2s (199-6) beat North London (196-9) by 4 wickets

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After an enthusiastic warmup, the Finch lost the toss and were fielding first, and with the success of our bowling last week, once again Mickey and Neal took the first overs. Neal’s opening spell drew many places and misses but Finchley would only get their first wicket when Nir pegged back their opener in the 15th over. Later in the innings, Yuvee kept it tight and picked up 3 wickets and the innings was wrapped up by good, no sorry, brilliant catching by Nir and great bowling from Neal and Mickey. The Finchley bowlers obviously not phased with the reintroduction of limited over cricket, keeping North London to 196.

Yuvee and Dave opened for Finchley and it was the former who got the Finch off to a beautiful start with two glorious slip drives before unfortunately departing. The skipper was then joined at the crease by Benji and Dave started motoring, every other shot drawing rapturous applause from the team. And with him still pushing on, Benji fell at the other end, which brought Tim Le Breton to the crease. The skip then brought up his 50 off not a lot of balls and Finchley looked set to cruise home before Dave was triggered by the umpire. Rish was next in for us and did well with Tim to see out North London’s two best bowlers. However two quick wickets later, and Finchley were 150-5 with Tim still in on 43 which he soon made 50 with some unbelievable strokes- even walking down the wicket and dispatching their quick bowler for a big 6. Not quite being able to see the game right to its end, the game was wrapped up by Houps and Dan. It was a good and much-needed win for Finchley.

3s (221-6) beat Hornsey (214ao) by 7 runs

No scorecard or report available, but a brilliant nail-biting win for the 3s.

4s (60-2) beat Alexandra Park (56ao) by 8 wickets

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Finchley 4s continued there push for promotion with an 8 wicket win over Alexandra Palace 4s. An excellent opening spell by R. Tibarewala reduced AP to 30-3 but N. Noman, with a timely return to form, took 6 wickets as AP were all out for 57. Finchley held all their catches, 8 in total, which included 1 slip catch and a brilliant one handed gulley catch by R. Hammond. In reply, J Nissam feel cheaply but R. Hammond, 25 not out and R. Prabhu, 10 not out, comfortably saw Finchley home.

SUNDAY

Chess Valley XI (339-8) beat Alexandra Park (142ao) by 197 runs

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Sunday saw another outing for the chess valley xi away at Alexandra palace. On a sweltering day, we batted first and piled on a massive 339-8 off 45 overs, with Yuvi the pick of the batters hitting a mammoth 149 off 85 balls. Useful contributions also came from Rudy and Shoabi, both getting 60 odd, as well as Caleb getting out first ball of the game, chipping one very slowly to backward point. A great first half from the boys and into the field we were.

Mikey and Delin opened up and got us off too a good start, picking up two wickets each, leaving them 57-4 after 12 overs. Ally pally frustrated us through the middle overs, with tight bowling from Caleb and moiz as little runs came off the bat, eventually making the break through at 120-6, with Caleb picking up two. Yuvi finished the tail off with three quick wickets bowling ally pally out for 142, completing a 197 run victory. Another good win for the chess valley boys.