With threats of thunderstorms earlier in the week, Round 2 looked in doubt but, thankfully, the forecast cleared and left the weekend free for cricket.

Our 1s headed on down to Osterley, looking to build on last week's success. Osterley won the toss and chose to bat, which, when they fell to 5-1, looked like it might have been an interesting choice. The top order steadied things slightly for them but wickets continued to fall at regular intervals taking them to 94-4. However, 94-4 became 97 all out as Zac Bayliss (4-10) and Tasin Iqbal (3-13) ripped through the lower order. An excellent bowling display.
In reply, we never really looked in difficulty. An opening partnership of 56 between Joe Naughton and James Cormack set things up. Even losing both openers when we were on 56 didn't phase us, as we rolled home with 8 wickets in hand.

Our 2s had their home debut vs. Southgate and batted first. With runs from Nick Jackson (65) and Callum Wick (61*) setting up a total of 235-6 - a very reasonable effort. In reply, our bowlers did an excellent job. Abhishek and Ali kept it tight early on before Kariq (3-18) came on to grab quick wickets. Southgate were never able to get going and were all out for 118.

The 3rd XI headed to the Walker Ground to face Southgate. They were put into bat and never were never really able to build on starts. Southgate's bowlers bowled good lines and kept the pressure on, despite several dropped catches. Noor Maroof (25) and Jawad (31) were the only batsmen to get going.
With the ball, we were on top early on. James Quinlan (2-33) and Jawad (0-25) restricting Southgate to 58-3 from the first 24 overs. Southgate's middle order, however, recovered well and began scoring more freely taking them to within sight of victory. A late flurry of wickets, mainly from Noor (5-13), kept things interesting - taking Southgate from 133-6 to 135-9 - but it wasn't enough as Southgate won by 1 wicket. Ultimately about 15 runs short.

The 4s made their debut this weekend, after last week's conceded game. They hosted Mill Hill Village at Botany Bay. We were put in to bat but never really got started. A handful of double figure scores pushed us towards 100 but we were dismissed for 86. With the ball, our bowlers did well, keeping the pressure on and making Mill Hill work for their runs. Joe Simons (3-18) the pick of the bunch but, unfortunately, our opponents had slightly too much for us on the day - winning by 5 wickets.

On Sunday, our 1s played in the first round of the Bertie Joel Cup against Sharks Academy. We bowled first with Sharks Academy posting a very reasonable 244-7. Zac Bayliss (3-54) was the lead bowler for us.
In reply, we stumbled early losing a wicket with the very first ball, then being 10-2. But Davis Mills (51), Dan Naughton (31) and Zac Bayliss (63*) steadied things and pointed us towards chasing it down. Unfortunately, we just lost wickets too frequently and couldn't stick around as we were eventually bowled out for 196.

Thanks to our sponsor, Pat Stafford and Lenio London, for their generous sponsorship this weekend. We really do appreciate their support.

Next weekend:
1s vs. Eastcote (LR)
2s at Headstone Manor
3s vs. Stoke Newington (EGS)
4s at Cockfosters
[Sunday: TBC]