The 1s travelled to Trailfinders this week, with stand-in skipper Chich stepping in at the helm. After losing the toss, Trailfinders elected to bowl first—a decision both sides seemed content with. The pitch looked promising for batting, but the opening overs quickly revealed a different story. The wicket proved two-paced, and the large, slow outfield made scoring a real challenge.

Hem and Schops got us off to a steady start, putting on 43 for the first wicket with some elegant stroke play, capitalising on the hard, new ball. Hem fell for 23 after chipping one in the air, bringing Saj to the crease. He hung around briefly before succumbing to a sharp bouncer from a lively young Trailfinders seamer. Kalpesh followed and contributed a handy 15 before falling to the Trailfinders captain, who went on to post impressive figures of 18-4-45-5. Schops anchored the innings with a gritty 68, holding things together as wickets fell around him. Kenton struggled to build momentum, but a valuable partnership between Akshay (35) and Waaris (26*) helped push us closer to the 200 mark. With Quad and Chich departing without troubling the scorers, we found ourselves at 170-7, looking slightly under par.

Thanks to some useful lower-order contributions alongside Waaris, we closed on 197-9 from our 55 overs. While we initially aimed for 230+, the deteriorating pitch and sluggish outfield gave us confidence that our total was competitive.

With regular skipper Dylan unavailable, Asi and Charlie took the new ball and set the tone with disciplined, threatening spells. Charlie struck first, claiming two early wickets. The second dismissal was particularly unusual: Charlie brushed the stumps during his run-up, prompting the umpire to call a no-ball. The batsman was caught off the delivery, but since the bails hadn’t dislodged, the umpires deliberated and ultimately reversed the no-ball call. They ruled that the batsman hadn’t altered his shot based on the call, and he was given out. Controversial? Perhaps. But the umpires’ decision stood, and play moved on.

The Trailfinders skipper came in and played a brief cameo, striking a few boundaries before being caught brilliantly by Saj on the deep square leg boundary off Tej’s bowling. At 78-3, with just 162 needed for a winning draw, the game was finely poised.

Enter Kalpesh.

The all-rounder turned the match on its head, first nicking off the well-set opener for 43, then removing the number five, caught by Charlie. Kalpesh bowled with guile and control, mixing up his pace and using the conditions expertly. He was well supported by Hem and Tej, who kept things tight from the other end.

As Trailfinders looked to accelerate, the wickets kept tumbling. From 100-7, they shifted focus to survival. Chich responded with attacking and unconventional field placements in search of the final wickets. Kalpesh struck twice more—both bowled—and Asi returned to claim the last wicket with 4.1 overs to spare.

A huge win for Kenton and a vital 12 points that keep our promotion hopes alive. With matches still to come against the three teams above us, the dream is very much alive. Next up: a crucial home fixture against Harrow. A must-win if we’re to stay in the hunt!