10th May | 45 overs per side Titans won the toss and elected to bat

Titans: 167 all out (40) - Ravi Desai (4-21)

Southgate 149 all out (38.1) - Javed Ahmed 59

Southgate’s 2nd XI started off the league season with an away trek to Harrow against a Middlesex Titans side, relegated from Division Two the previous season.

On a less than impressive track for the season opener, Southgate lost the toss and were sent into field – an astute decision from the Titan’s skipper given the lack of a full XI from the away side until the 18th over.

Southgate’s fielding innings started brightly with Javed Ahmed and George Bloyce firing through opening salvos upon an uneven pitch. Javed removed Titan’s opener before Ravi Desai (4-21) and Lewis Johnston made further progress through the Titan’s batting lineup, backed up by solid fielding efforts throughout.

The arrival of Abdullah Rafi not only restored Southgate to a full XI but also resulted in 3 wickets, a catch, a runout, and a knee-shaped crater in the side screen chasing a ball down to the boundary – some impact.

Southgate lost a little control towards the end of the innings, allowing Titans to pile on 30 runs for their final wicket – bowled out for 167 in an encouraging first display of the season.

The batting innings started brightly with skipper Christian McLoughlin (17) and Mustapha Mirza accounting for a couple of early boundaries in a partnership of 22 for the first wicket. 22-1 soon became 38-5 as a combination of accurate bowling and an uncompromising pitch ripped through the top order.

Javed and debutant Nish Shah steadied the innings and started to quieten down a raucous home side. A young Titan’s spinner geed up with the responsibility tasked for not just the home side, but his entire friends and family was promptly hit out of the ground by a couple of lusty blows from Javed.

Unfortunately, with partners falling around him, Javed was stumped for a well-made 59 and Southgate ultimately fell 19 runs short of Titan’s total – bowled out for 149.

A disappointing result to take in but also many positives that will hold the 2nd XI in good stead for the rest of the season.

Lewis Johnston