A virgin pitch on the bottom ground, and one which proved to be slow and with that, an all round early season feel about it. This suited ball in hand and having elected to bat we were made to work for every run. Akein (27) was our glue and was his reliant self, piercing the gaps with some fine strokes when the opportunities allowed. There were some mini partnerships, however it was the introduction of Zach that loosened the shackles a little bit more. He looked in fine form and a towering six over deep mid wicket made for pleasing viewing. Unfortunately, cruelly his left shoulder gave way, possibly muscling that six, and he was forced to retire when on 23. Harry (11*) and Dylan K (11*) then batted maturely in tandem to get our total up to 113-5. Credit to Wheathampstead they had rarely strayed in line or length. Given the conditions, a total around 120 was perfectly respectable and thus we were not far off.

Once again though we were guilty of bowling too short and on a wicket not offering bounce there was little reward for this approach. Couple this with Wheathampstead having an opener that swung from the hip with maximum effect, by the end of the fourth over he had reached retirement and they were well on their way at 52-0. Akein bowled excellently finishing with figures of 3-0-7-0 and Zach (3-1-14-0) kept a lid on things with his spell, but with no pressure on the run rate, our opponents could simply play our bowling on it’s merits. They eventually eclipsed our score in the 15th over and without having lost a wicket.

It was extremely encouraging to see how we grafted with the bat against a well drilled and competent bowling attack, however when there was indiscipline in our bowling, it was severely punished. We know where we need to improve!

M.O.M. Zach batted very nicely before his shoulder gave in. Today though, it was Akein who was our top performer, he did what an opening batter should do and build a base for the rest to follow, and his bowling was our bright moment in the field, plus he is always one of our strongest fielders. Well played Akein.