1s continue perfect start

Week two of the MCCL season brought another two wins for our league sides with the 1s continuing their winning start while the 4s got on the board with a fine victory.

Here's a round-up of the weekend's action.

1st Team (Harry Marston)

Over the past few years, Brentham have shown they can blow hot or cold but they blew particularly hot on this suitably warm Saturday afternoon at Meadvale Road - an excellent illustration of the intentions of the young, tenacious side led by Tomek Tsang.

After losing the toss and being put in, Thirath Goane and Aadil Khan faced a difficult opening spell. Both were dismissed in quick succession (Goane 9, Khan 0), while Pravin Jadhav attempted to provide Brentham with some much needed stability. He watched as Cody Pyne was dismissed for 5 adjudged LBW. Green shoots of recovery began to appear as Jadhav and Tsang steadied the ship for the home side.

The pair put on 52 until Tsang shuffled back to the pavilion for a determined 23. Jadhav was joined by George Allen as the pair experienced trial by off-spin. Allen’s resolute defence gave Jadhav license to bring the game to the opposition. He hit three fours of the highest pedigree in a game where the momentum was beginning to switch. But the attack was relentless and the subsequent dismissal of Allen for a well made 16, the run out of Lucas Smith (0), the early departure of Dan Taylor (0), and the big wicket of Jadhav (61) within a few overs sparked a mini collapse.

Thankfully, Jack Ellis was on hand once again to rescue Brentham from the grips of a below-par total. Assisted by Harry Marston, he took the game to the opposition attack, acting as a wheel clamp on their premature excitement. The pair breezed past their 50 partnership, taking the Trees up to 191-9 (Ellis 28*, Marston 35*) to finish.

From the outset, it was clear that the tools at Friends Utd’s disposal were blunt as Jack Solomon (2-36) and Ellis (3-20) both steamed with pace and fire. Despite facing early frustrations, United’s fragile defence began to crumble. After Solomon struck twice, the floodgates opened.

It was now not a question of whether Brentham would claim their second victory of the season, but when. A relentless attack by the pair, coupled with an outstanding performance in the field by the home side (exemplified by catch of pure brilliance by Taylor) put Brentham in a commanding position with United 48-5. The next two wickets completely derailed the innings and the game was wrapped up by Pyne who finished with impressive figures of 3-8.

Brentham sit proudly at the top of Division 3, looking to next Saturday with confidence as they welcome Actonians.

2nd Team (Ciaran Brett)

This was a case of after the feast, comes the famine, for Saad Rehman's 2s who found Eastcote far too strong at Haydon Hall.

Buoyed by a big win over Highgate last weekend, the Trees went into the game full of confidence but put in an under-par performance in all three disciplines to lose by 6 wickets.

Batting first, a captain's knock of 53 from Rehman, and a gritty 14 from Matt Plews, gave the Trees a good launchpad at 80-2. However, aside from Dhiraj Khullar's 31, the rest of the middle and lower order failed to fire, resulting in a below-par 167 all-out in 44.3 overs.

Faiz Khan (2-40) made an early breakthrough but the Trees' attack was then blunted by a flat pitch and good batting. Eastcote serenely reached 76-1 before losing another wicket to a run-out at the non-strikers end. The door creaked further open for Brentham when Faiz picked up his second, and our third, with 70 runs remaining.

However, Eastcote were not going to pass up the opportunity to get their second win of the campaign and raced to the target for the loss of only one further wicket, in under 30 overs.

Saad's side will face another strong opponent this weekend when they travel to Shepherd's Bush.

3rd Team (Ciaran Brett)

It was a similar story for the 3s who suffered defeat at the hands of Finchley by 5 wickets.

Brentham's innings was a curious one, with nobody in the top seven getting to double figures, while Finchley padded out the Brentham score with 35 extras.

Batting at eight, Mohsin Hassan (63) joined forces with skipper Chris Jones (18) to at least drag the Trees to 153 all-out in 38 overs.

Jones' side needed early wickets but a belligerent 51* from their opener and contributions of 21 and 36 at the top of the order, ensured that wasn't the case.

Under-17 Dama Wijesinghe (3-36) was the pick of the Brentham bowlers but, on another true William Perkins' pitch, 153 never looked like being defended.

The 3s have the chance to get back to winning ways this weekend when Actonians' make the short trip to Perkins.

4th Team (Azzy Butt)

A first victory of the season and back to winning ways for the 4s, as they dominated Teddington CC with a promising all-round performance to set them up for the season ahead.

After losing the toss and being put in to bat, Captain Krushna Kerai’s team set Teddington 254 to win after contributions throughout the team. A solid and steady 34 off 71 from the ever-reliable John Whelan, set up Krushna for a solid knock of 34 off 34.

Contributions in the middle from Haroun Islam (27 off 52) and Azzy Butt (37 off 39) helped carry the momentum before Vinay Khetia (12 off 18) and Amandeep Singh (15 off 21) rounded off a fantastic performance with the bat.

Over to the bowlers who did not disappoint with a fantastic 12 overs spell from Yogesh Solanki who turned out to be unplayable, as he finished with figures of 0-20 off his full quota. Leg-spinner Vinay Khetia bowled his 11 overs to finish with figures of 3-32.

But the star of the show, the pocket rocket who turned the game on its head, was Abdul Shukkoor who dismissed the top 3 batsman, and set the standard for the bowlers, to clean up as he bowled his full 12 overs with figures of 3-41.

A truly dominant display from the 4’s as they now move on to face Ealing Trailfinders in the next fixture over at the PRA.

5th Team (Ciaran Brett)

For the second consecutive week to begin the campaign, it was great to get a 5th XI out who made the trip to Mayfields.

Chasing 188 in a time game, Brentham fell short in their chase but the result was not as important as regularly getting a full 5 sides out!