All we do is WIN WIN WIN no matter what! We did it guys, finally! After 14 weeks of cricket, we managed to secure 5/5 wins this weekend for the first time this season. Manifested by Soham Khurjekar and Rahil Patel the night before at Mcafferty’s in North Harrow, the boys delivered in some style. There’s a tear in my eye writing this, but there were many tears of joy in Mr Mark Giffin’s eyes in the bar. This was up until he saw another video on Sunday evening of Devesh Kerai and Prithvi Nakrani singing Ed Sheeran’s “Castle on the Hill”, the tears of joy then turned into tears of despair. We were graced with the presence of our old boys, stalwarts of the club, this Saturday and were determined to make it a day they would be proud of and I’m sure they were. Anyways, let’s see how this fantastic weekend went!

Kenton CC 1st XI vs Southgate CC 1st XI

Anand Majithia’s 1st XI were at home to Southgate and were batting first after skipper Dylan Assani won the toss. Back to the overs games for the rest of the season which meant back to the clean maroon-coloured kits and the shiny pink ball. Results against teams below them this season haven’t been ideal so the 1s were looking to put that right. The party animals Kalpesh Kerai, Sajan Shah and Charlie Erdwin all returned to the side hoping to get the job done. Sajan opened up with the birthday boy Rajiv Soneji and it only took 4 balls for Soneji to get the innings underway with a glorious drive for 4 runs. Sajan only took 2 balls before he hit his first boundary to get off the mark. Sajan continued to be the aggressor before he was stumped on 34 (25). When he took his lid off afterwards we weren’t too sure what was shinier, the new pink ball or Sajan’s head. Soneji and Kalpesh kept things ticking along before Soneji fell for 39 (71) also stumped. Kaushlendra Singh came out in gear 4 from the onset. Taking the game to the Southgate bowlers hitting 38 (18) before he was caught. Kaushlendra was hitting the ball higher and further than most people ever have at Kenton. The 4s on the bottom pitch were in grave danger from this man’s brute hitting. After he was dismissed, the onslaught didn’t stop. Southgate thought they caught a break but Owen O’Neill-Khaled walked to the crease. He saw Kaushlendra hit some huge sixes and was fearing that people would no longer be calling him the biggest hitter at the club so he decided to hit 5 huge sixes of his own! Owen brought up his 50 before he was dismissed after 36 balls. Kalpesh was out before Owen, with the score 232/4 but his 69 (69) was important in setting the foundation for the middle order to kick on. He hit 7 fours and 3 sixes and probably produced the most wholesome moment of the day when he took his son Druv to take his scoreboard photo with him. I think the kid was proud of his dad as he didn’t stop smiling as the photos were being taken. Happy birthday to the little man as well as he just turned 1 years old! After Owen was dismissed, Qudratullah Khiyal and Dylan Assani didn’t let Southgate off the hook. The 38th over went for 28 runs even though Owen was dismissed in it which shows the true power of our middle order. Owen went 4,6,6 and out and Qudratullah hit his first 2 balls for 6. Qudratullah faced just 12 balls and hit 5 gigantic sixes including one that hit the roof of the clubhouse. After Qudratullah was bowled, skipper Dylan came out and picked up where he left off. He hit 2 fours and 4 sixes to finish the innings not out on 39 off just 19 balls. Charlie Erdwin also received a batting promotion to number 9 and struck at 116.67 for his 7* off 6. 351/7 was the score and 352 was the target. Dylan and Charlie, who finished the innings with the bat, started the second innings with the ball. Charlie had their overseas dropped very early on before he went on to score a ton and unfortunately leapfrog Viraj Patel at the top of the Division 2 leading run scorer chart. Dylan got the opening breakthrough, a fantastic catch by Qudratullah Khiyal. Sajan then rubbed salt in Charlie’s wounds with his wayward throw for 4 overthrows, thanks for the social media views Saj. Yashil Kamdar and Hem Shah were then thrown the ball and Yashil managed to get the 2nd breakthrough in the 21st over. Miscampbell mistimed one and got bowled (no pun intended). He then took the big wicket of Pillalamari in his next over for just 1 which ended any hope of a Southgate chase really. Kalpesh got in on the act taking the next wicket, before Kaushlendra removed their skipper. Their overseas then went 6 and out to Kalpesh who celebrated with the Matheus Cunha surfboard celebration. Cunha made the Emirates his dancefloor, looks like the dancing queen Kalpesh has made the Alan Digby Ground his dancefloor. Kalpesh Cunha ended the game with figures of 4-66 in 9 overs before Hem took the 9th wicket. Yashil then finished the job and ended with figures of 3-66 in his 9. A special mention to Nihal Halai with the gloves who received heaps of praise from the old boys watching on for his outstanding glove work, especially standing up to our seamers. Southgate 286 all out. A really convincing win for the 1s who will now be looking to win their remaining 3 games and finish as high as they possibly can this season. Win by 65 runs.

Scorecard:https://kenton.play-cricket.com/website/results/7258413

Chiswick CC 2nd XI vs Kenton CC 2nd XI

The 2s were away to Chiswick in their most important game of the season as they looked to ensure safety in Division 2. Important measures to motivate himself for the big day were taken to ensure this win was secured by star spinner Devm Parekh who went on a little night out to experience a bit of British culture with Devesh Kerai, Prithvi Nakrani, Anish Kerai, Soham Khurjekar and Rahil Patel. To be honest, I don’t think Devm has smiled as much in all his time in the UK as much as he did in Hatch End Wetherspoons. Anyways, skipper Roshan Patel returned to the side and lost the toss. The boys were batting first. Neel Patel and Saif Butt were dismissed cheaply before Dilan Wanniarachchi followed soon after. An important 46 (83) from Sohail Butt as well as 35 (69) from Cedric Mendes eventually got the scoreboard ticking. Roshan Patel with 39* (34) helped us post a respectable 200/7 in 45. Being without Ajmal Jabarkheil and Prithvi Nakrani, the rest of the bowlers had to stand up and they did in some style. Abhishek Jha got the new ball hooping like he does every week to get the first breakthrough. I dread what nicknames Saif Butt was giving him this week after what he was calling him last Sunday. Not sure it gets worse than “chocolate milkshek” and “Harlem shek” to be fair. He provided a great start to have Chiswick 20/2 before Devm Parekh took 2 huge wickets so spin the game in our favour. After Cedric Mendes took the next, the boys smelt blood with the score 89/5. Saif with a run out for the next wicket, off the bowling of his father Sohail, there was no chance safe was messing that one up. A mini partnership then formed between P. Pearce and O. Gilmour but this was broken by the golden arm of Puneet Pattni. 11 runs were now needed and the 1s and 4s who were done were glued to Chiswick’s frogbox praying that the 2s could get the job done. Abhishek was then brought on and removed the number 10 with a fantastic yorker, leading to many celebrations at the club. Calls at the club for skipper Roshan to come back on were clearly loud enough as they were answered all the way in W4. A man known to have ice in his veins, who when asked if he’s feeling the pressure usually replies with “I am not feeling the pressure”. (Where do you think Mourinho got that quote from?) Roshan knocked over P. Pearce, sparking wild celebrations from our boys at Chiswick but also back at the club. Pearce tried a scoop shot but he should know nobody scoops better than Roshan himself. What an important win for the 2s and it looks like Devm will be allowed on a night out every Friday from now on. Win by 11 runs.

Scorecard:https://kenton.play-cricket.com/website/results/7259085

North Middlesex CC 4th XI vs Kenton CC 3rd XI

The 3s were away to North Middlesex 4s and knew the magnitude of what was at stake. Skipper Rishi Toor back in the side boosted them massively. The boys were batting first after skipper Toor won the toss and didn’t get off to the best of starts at 27/3. The experienced heads of Jonny Rye and Ankit Shah, who is surely done celebrating Arsenal’s league title by now, combined for 85 before Ankit was out lbw for 37 (45). Rye followed shortly after his 41 (60) before skipper Toor put on 59 for the 6th wicket with last week’s hero from the 4s, Shubham Patil. Jameel came and hit a few boundaries before being removed for 22 (16) and then Shubham was next for a crucial 43 (68) with the score at 234. The boys ended 238/9 after 45, a score they felt was very much defendable. 2 men who definitely thought it was defendable were Raj Parmar and Jameel Shah. There was genuinely smoke coming off the ball as they were bowling and on a hot day, the temperature definitely went up a notch. The pair blew away the top 6 to have North Middlesex in deep trouble at 34/6. Jameel ended with figures of 4/19 in 10 overs, and has been rolling back the years in the last few weeks. So good to see Jimmy at his best! Raj played his part with 2-30 in 9. A partnership of 68 for the 7th wicket followed before it was eventually broken by Pranav Shah. It really was a day for the Shah’s as Pranav and Ankit cleaned up the tail and ended with 2 each. Credit to the 3s as they gave it their all, Devesh Kerai gave it so much that his whites had turned blue! 112 all out. Massive win by 125 runs and the 3s are out of the relegation zone for now with an even bigger game at home to Highgate next week.

Scorecard:https://kenton.play-cricket.com/website/results/7259566

Kenton CC 4th XI vs North Middlesex CC 5th XI

The 4s hosted North Middlesex 5s with the aim to finish as high as they possibly can this season. Skipper Deepak Singh won the toss and elected to field first. Soham Khurjekar and Rahil Patel looked like they had bore the brunt of their night out but were still ready to give it their all in the field. Jaisal Jansari got the opening breakthrough as he has for majority of the season, a great catch by Sahil Goswami. Zakirullah Khiyal got the next breakthrough, lbw which brought North Middlesex’s own birthday boy to the crease. The boys greeted him to the crease with many happy birthday songs including their own song labelled “Birthday Six” inspired from Jeremiah’s famous track. Their opener was removed by Vijay Prajapati, caught at square leg by Rahil Patel before Zakirullah removed their number 5 and then the birthday boy, both bowled top of middle stump. Vijay Prajapati cleaned up the tail in some style to finish with figures of 6-63 in 11 overs whilst Zakirullah’s were 3-44 in 10. 186 all out were North Middlesex. Yug Patel and Soham Khurjekar got the chase off to a flyer bringing up 50 partnership in no time at all. The rum and cokes had then caught up to Soham as he was bowled with 55 on the board, despite hitting one of the shots of the day with a glorious straight drive for four runs. Yug was the aggressor early on and he was then dismissed on 34 (32). Rahil Patel hit one huge six over mid-wicket and this was seen by Kushal Subasinghe who decided he wanted to hit the ball even further, way back into the gardens. Rahil Patel with a suicidal run out of himself followed by dismissals of Sahil Goswami, Ravi Patel and Jaisal Jansari left us 137/6 but Kushal continued to find the boundaries at ease, even receiving praise from Southgate players on the top pitch. He ended 66* (51) and was supported by Zakirullah who was 14* off (25) as they saw the boys home by 4 wickets to cap off the 40 point weekend.

Scorecard:https://kenton.play-cricket.com/website/results/7259924

Kenton CC CV XI vs Watford Town CC CV XI

The Chess Valley side hosted Watford Town CC at home knowing that they had to win to guarantee safety in Division One. As always, the CV side warm up by doing absolutely nothing cricket related and instead they got in a rondo with a football. Skipper Hem Shah lost the toss and we were fielding first. The CV side were graced for the first time this season with the presence of an umpire, Rahil Patel. Out of all club members, they couldn’t have found a more handsome man to take on the role so fair play to Hem for that recruitment. There was also tabs kept on Brentham’s game away to Harrow Town as a Brentham loss would also meant we were safe, as well as Graces vs Hemel Hempstead Town as a Hemel loss would also mean the same. Still, Hem and the boys didn’t plan on relying on other teams to drop points, they wanted to get the job done themselves. Prithvi Nakrani with the new ball and the first breakthrough: a caught-and-bowled, coming forward, that only he and his long limbs would’ve been able to reach. Their overseas player was then run out after some fine work at square-leg by Rishabh Desai, with Yashil Kamdar taking off the bails at the non-striker's end. The boys were enjoying themselves in the field and keeping spirits high, with even more rubbish coming out of Saif Butt’s mouth. Seriously, someone needs to teach him how to chirp on a cricket field because all he does is call his teammates everything but their own names. A few lusty blows from some of the Town batters but Hem Shah led from the front with 4-54 from his 10 overs. 1 bowled, 1 caught by Nihal Halai with the gloves, 1 caught by Devesh Kerai in the slips who celebrated with a lap of honour, and 1 that went miles up in the air caught by Rishabh Desai with his eyes closed. Charles Erdwin decided to unleash his inner Nathan Lyon and took a caught and bowled bowling off-spin and Devm was of course in on the act with a wicket for himself, caught by Saif Butt at square leg. Can’t ever keep starboy out of the game. Town ended 296/8 but their innings was all about Mr Gaurav Shinagare who crafted one of the best ever knocks seen at the Alan Digby Ground, hitting 205* off 139 balls. The lad hit 17 fours and 18 sixes which equates to 176 runs in boundaries. That is 85.85% of his runs in boundaries. Truly sensational. 25 was needed off the last over for his double ton and with Devesh Kerai bowling he fancied his chances. Launching 5 balls in the over for 6 to take 31 off the over final over and bring up his double ton off the last ball of the innings to a large roar from the Town lads and also appreciation from our players and club members watching as they witnessed greatness. Every 6 in the last over all you could hear was Dylan Assani and Dilan Wanniarachchi just laughing their heads off, poor Devesh, it happens to the best of us (not me tho). The man hit almost 70% of Town’s runs and they rightfully felt that they were 30 odd runs short. Skipper Hem and Saif Butt came out to open the batting. Short stay at the crease for Saif as he was bowled for 1 before Devesh and Hem put on a 55 run partnership for the second wicket before Hem chipped one to deep(ish) mid-wicket on the boundary. Nihal Halai arrived to the crease and he was told by ICC level umpire Rahil that if stayed till the end we would win the game. Devesh and Nihal put on 71 for the 3rd wicket before a great piece of anticipation by their overseas saw Devesh out caught on 43 (50) trying to scoop one after missing the scoop the previous ball. From this point, it was a challenge for new batter Vinay Halai and Nihal Halai to negotiate the amount of turn that their overseas was able to extract. They took the challenge head on and started to score at a very good rate, with Vinay hitting a couple of important sixes. Vinay was eventually bowled to one that didn’t turn at 193/4 and then Yashil was out lbw with the score 210/5. Prithvi Nakrani then arrived to the crease and with the boys being told in their ear every over what the required run rate was by umpire turned coach, they knew exactly what the task was at hand. After a couple of close lbw shouts in back to back balls from Prithvi and then Nihal, definitely both hitting the ball, Prithvi then shifted gears. He hit 40 off 24 balls, hitting 5 fours and 2 sixes, bringing the rate below 6 an over. Owen O’Neill-Khaled unleashed his Coach Owen character and was also giving his words of wisdom on the side, something the boys appreciated too. After Prithvi was dismissed, Charles “Gary” Erdwin joined Nihal at the crease. Knowing what Nihal was on and the rate under control, he told Nihal to “knock it around for a bit” which then led to him bringing up his first Kenton Cricket Club Century. Nihal hit 18 fours and 2 huge sixes and you could see how much that ton meant to him. After a difficult first half of the season with the bat, Nihal and his dad worked extremely hard in the nets to put things right and he reaped the rewards of his hard work on Sunday. A match winning 114* (104) to steer us home, and also bring us a lot of Instagram likes, before Charlie hit the final nail in Watford Town’s coffin with a straight six into the sight screen to finish the job and bring 300 up. Win by 3 wickets and 44 points it was across the weekend!! Was great to see so many club members down at the ground supporting the boys in their win, so huge thanks to those who showed up.

Scorecard:https://kenton.play-cricket.com/website/results/7231218

Wow, wow, wow what a weekend ladies and gentlemen. I thoroughly enjoyed reliving it with all of you and hope you did too. It was great to see some old faces back at the club and we are grateful that we could repay them with such a successful weekend. The vibes at the club were immaculate and it’s definitely something I wouldn’t mind looking forward to every week! So many great performances this weekend and it was difficult to pick a TOTW, with some people still unlucky to miss out, but check out the Instagram to see who made it!

Get your name down for curry-oke night on the 29th and see you all next week!!