On Saturday 8th June, Mitcham 3rd XI went up against Wimbledon CC in an enthralling encounter at the Shrewsbury House School Sports Ground. Bottom-of-the-table Mitcham knew it would be no easy task to gain their first win of the season, against a strong side who were placed 2nd in the league table going into the game.
Mitcham were put into bat after losing the toss on a damp wicket. Shamali Khan and skipper Martin Gouma opened up the batting and began solidly, putting on 27 inside 5 overs before rain stopped play. Going back out after the delay, the openers continued the solid base, before Shamali was dismissed off a leading edge for 31.
Wimbledon brought on their first change bowlers, which initiated a Mitcham collapse that we have seen all too often this season, with the next 3 batsman all falling for single digit scores. Tom (4-28 off 9 overs) and Naveed (3-29 off 9 overs) bowled great to restrict the Mitcham batsman after a strong start.
Wickets fell regularly until we were 82-7, with Martin going for a well made 27, and it seemed that we would be bowled out for under 100 for the 4th time this season. However, a 25 run partnership between Uncle and Shariff Hosseini allowed for runs to start flowing again, though once this partnership was broken, the tail was cleaned up quickly. Uncle offered some solid resistance, with 16 not out as well as being in 6 different partnerships. Mitcham were bowled out for 120.
It seemed that the total would be nowhere near enough against a strong side like Wimbledon, however Mitcham started very well to reduce the opposition to 1-2. Shariff bowling (in Martin's own words!) was fiery, aggressive and accurate, and took 2 wickets in 2 balls to leave Wimbledon reeling at 9-4. However, Graham Hill (20) and Vince Tallent (33) batted sensibly to put on a 46 run partnership that was, eventually, broken by Hafeez Adam.
Initially, it seemed the required run rate would never be a problem, considering a target of 121 in 45 overs, however it gradually began to rise. Wimbledon were reduced to 102-9, and needing 19 off 2 overs, had to go big. However, the next ball, the last batsman picked out Shamali at long-on perfectly, to give Mitcham their 1st win of the season.
Shariff (4-10 in 9 overs), Shamali (2-20 in 9 overs), Hafeez (3-36 in 9 overs) bowled superbly, along with Alston Wood (0-10 including 5 maidens) and Uncle (1-21). Shamali was given man-of-the-match for his 31 runs, great bowling figures and his efforts in the field.
All in all, a superb performance by the 3rd XI with the ball to grab our first win off the season.
We will hope to continue that next week where we are away to Woodmansterne.
Match report by Dhruv Rupal