Week 5 – Kenton CC 1st XI vs Ickenham CC 1st XI

With the skipper unavailable this season, stand in Captain Deepak Singh lost the toss and Ickenham put Kenton in. Singh failing to win the toss for the best part of 2 seasons now! Kenton started off aggressively, scoring 37 from 5 overs, with stand in opener Trushaal Gaikwad showing his potential to score quickly. Gaikwad soon played a shot too many, losing his wicket in the 6^th over after smashing another boundary. Jonathan Mills continued scoring steadily, and with Kaushal Patel at the crease, the run rate decreased to 5 an over. Patel soon was bowled after a bowling change from the opposition skipper, and subsequently the famous Kenton batting collapse began. The rapid loss of Mark Sweeney, Mills (51), Kumar, and Rishi Kotecha left Kenton at 107-6 after 24 overs, with Dean Waller of Ickenham bowling an excellent spell of outswing. Skipper Deepak Singh led the fight-back with support from David Sweeney, both scoring steadily to recover the innings. However luck was not with Kenton when Singh smashed a loose ball back at the bowler, the bowler got a touch and the non-striker was run out as a result. Next batsman in was Kalpesh Kerai, and with a maximum of 21 overs still available to bat, the chance for lower order batsmen to shine was present. Singh then put the ball straight up in the air and lost his own wicket after scoring a resilient 28, with Kerai chipping the ball to mid off in the same over. With Kenton 9 wickets down, Jameel Shah hit a few boundaries to boost the score, but was eventually bowled.

Kenton were all out, only managing to score 158 from 38.5 overs.

It was not to be Kenton’s day today. Ickenham started by hitting four consecutive 4’s from the first over, with new ball bowler Charles Erdwin uncharacteristically bowling poor areas for his opening 2-over spell. Sweeney continued his rare medium pace, this time opening the bowling. Jameel Shah also bowled a short spell, not managing to reach the pace at which he was dangerous at in the 2^nd XI and in the 1^st XI last season. But with the opposition hitting boundaries in every over bowled, Kumar – the pro – was introduced into the attack, as was Kerai. After settling in, both spinners slowed the run rate, however both batsmen were happy to score slow and steady. Eventually, both Ickenham openers reached half-centuries, before Kerai produced a peach of a delivery to remove a settled batsman. With no action and steady run scoring, Ickenham closed in on the total. Captain Singh called upon K.Patel to bowl his first league over for 2 seasons, and after a few good deliveries to beat the bat, K.Patel was off the mark with the ball. The change was a little too late, with the game being won in the next over. Ickenham chased Kenton’s total in 35 overs, and won by 9 wickets.

Notable performances include another excellent innings by Jonathan Mills (51) continuing in good form. However, this was overshadowed by performances from Ickenhams Dean Waller (4-28 from 10), and openers R.Berti and R.Crompton, scoring 51 and 79* respectively.

Kenton slip to mid-table and will make changes with the hope of a better result next week – vs Harrow St. Mary’s.