On Wednesday evening we hosted Berkhamsted, a team that is difficult to find any affection for.

The game was a shoot out for top of the group and a place in the semi finals, with Radlett requiring a comfortable win to go above their table topping visitors.

The opposition won the toss and chose to bat. Their openers were looking to go hard from ball one, however Arihant (3-1-5-1) produced an excellent opening spell to keep them in check. Dylan was back to his very best at first change, and Elliott is a handful for any batter. With our accurate bowling and tigerish fielding, wickets were soon beginning to fall. There was a pleasing eagerness about our approach to this game and we deservedly had them 39-5 at halfway. Rohan N had taken a terrific catch high above his head to set the tone off Dylan (3-0-9-2) and Issa and Elliott also took a couple of tidy catches, whilst Henry threw in from the deep to initiate a run out. In amongst this, Elliott castled their captain cheaply. Not for the first time this season though, we weren’t quite able to shut the door fully and Berkhamsted took a sensible approach to boost their total, running well between the wickets. They batted out their 20 overs, during which further wickets had been collected by Luke S (1-16), Henry (1-2) and in the last over, Elliott (3-1-9-2), who also claimed an earlier run out. 96-9 the total posted.

We lost Rohan N and Henry early, but Arihant and Elliott knew they were in a fight and set about digging in for the long haul. Runs were just beginning to flow when Elliott (13) fell to a snorting one-handed grab from their self-confident keeper, which shifted the initiative. We then lost Zach and Arihant (23), who had batted with his usual calmness, in relatively quick succession, and when Joseph (8) was on the end of a rough decision, having started his innings promisingly, a cock-a-hoop Berkhamsted sensed a straightforward victory.

A hat trick was then gained, and the game was all but gone. Or was it? 31 were still needed off the last 15 balls of the innings with the final pair at the crease. But Luke S in company with his namesake, Luke H (1*), set about doing the impossible. He played some gorgeous shots in the deepening gloom, hitting the ball cleanly and intelligently farming the strike. It came down to the last over, 12 were needed, and when Luke S (24*) struck a boundary off the first ball the whole mood of the game had swung once more. Unfortunately, he was unable to find the killer blow for the remainder of the over…but what an innings!

On reflection, we fought every inch in this game and Berkhamsted had to throw everything at us to get over the line. Hopefully it will be a loss that will fuel a desire to come back stronger next year, the summer league has proved we are capable of regularly mixing it with the best, our boys must believe!

M.O.M. Arihant again was outstanding with bat and ball, but to his detriment he sets a very high bar! This time around it goes to Luke S who came of age in this game

Player of the Summer League does go to Arihant, he has been sensational, at one point he was averaging 158 with the bat, which by the end was still a mighty impressive 63. When you can only score 25 in each innings those are exceptional numbers. He was also key with the ball, bowling economically and chipping in with crucial wickets.