Chorleywood visited Radlett on a picture perfect afternoon for cricket.

Having won the toss we elected to have a bat. Arihant (25*) and Akein (9) opened up and whilst Akein found the accuracy of their early innings bowling challenging, Arihant is the gift that keeps on giving at the moment, as he reached yet another retirement. His concentration levels have been outstanding of late. We were never quite allowed to break loose but useful mid innings contributions from Vivaan (15), Elliott (9), Rohan N (11) and Luke S (7*) meant we finished with 112-4. Like Friday, we probably lack a bit of urgency when the time was right to push on, so on this wicket you had a feeling our final total was par at best.

Our bowling at the start was a little off line and this was severely punished by their openers, one in particular, their captain, was a player of quality. At 49-0 off 7 overs the ‘WinViz’ was not in our favour, however both openers retired in quick succession and with a drinks interval to regroup, the boys set about turning the game around. And turn the game around they did, not by taking wickets but by stifling the opposition with accurate bowling and determined fielding. Excellent two over spells from Zac L (0-8), Rohan N (0-5) and Luke S (0-8) meant a five an over requirement had become 8 an over as we entered the last 4 overs. Although still advantage Chorleywood considering the wickets they had in hand. A couple of fruitful overs for the visitors meant they were still ahead of the curve. Elliott (0-13) and Akein then both returned for their third overs, having already impressed in their earlier spells. And when Akein bowled the final over, 9 were still needed for victory. He bowled brilliantly picking up the only wicket to fall of the innings in the process, a calm catch taken by Dylan, and as it turned out they ended up 2 runs shy.

A real gutsy ‘backs to the wall’ performance in the field from Radlett. A confidence booster if ever there was one. A top win.

M.O.M. Arihant was very close as without his innings I am not sure we would have achieved the total we did, but Akein’s spell of 1-6 from three overs was crucial in us clawing ourselves back into the match and ultimately claiming victory