Actonians won the toss and elected to bowl first. Despite a few boundaries, it was a decision they would've been extremely pleased with as they had us 39-3 after 9 overs, taking the wickets of Patel, Kerai and Powale - Karia, the only batsman to really dig in from the top 4, was left stranded on 19* at the time. O'Neill Khaled (17) & Kaushal Patel (18), hung around long enough with Karia to build some much needed partnerships as they propelled the score to 127-5 before we lost them both to a good bit of cricket by our opposition. Even though wickets continued to fall at the other end, Karia continued to excel, punishing the bad balls taking his score to 70*.

Karia, who had built the foundation for what was a cracking individual effort, was joined by Shah and the pair relentlessly took apart anything in their arc. Shah smashed 37 off 32 balls, whilst Karia kept the scoreboard ticking as they combined for a sizeable 85-run partnership, taking us past the 200-mark. Karia cashed in on his excellent start, and secured the first 1XI century of the 2022 season, before being dismissed in the 43rd over, finishing on 119 off 120 balls. Some late hitting at the end (from Assani, Mohamadi & Jaberkhel) took us to 252-9, before skipper Kalps had seen enough and declared.

Actonians CC needed 253 off 55 overs. In reply, we were confident that the runs weren't going to be an issue, we just needed to get 10 wickets. Our opening spell wasn't the greatest, and we didn't really make the most of the new ball, as ACC managed to compile a 40-odd run partnership. Assani, swung things back in our favour, removing one of their openers in the 9th. With 9-wickets needed, and plenty of overs left in the game, skipper Kalps chopped and changed his bowlers well, before bringing himself on. Kerai had an immediate impact on the game taking three quick wickets, halting the Actonians score at 77-5. After Erdwin had removed the opener for 45 the following over, Shah (3-2-4-2) and Kerai bowled well in tandem to take the last 4 wickets; Kerai taking the final wicket not only to win the game, but to secure his first 5-wicket haul of the season, finishing on figures of 8.2-2-18-5.

Strong performances from the lads, in particular the knock of Karia, the bowling of Kerai and the all-round performance of Shah as we scoop 12-points in the first timed game of the 2022 campaign. After two away games, we finally make our return to the Alan Digby Ground next week to face newly-promoted London Tigers CC.

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