Southgate arrived full of excitement on a lovely hot day for the first league game of the season against Highgate 4th XI.

The match was played at Enfield Grammar, a ground with relatively short straight boundaries and a very good batting wicket. Speaking to the opposition beforehand, who regularly play there, they suggested that around 250 would be a par score.

Southgate bowled first and made good use of the depth in the bowling attack, using nine bowlers throughout the innings. Wickets were shared around, with Rupesh, Jason, Ibrahim, Amila, Barath, Divyen and Kevin all picking up a wicket each. However, on such a strong batting track, Southgate were left chasing a huge 357 from 45 overs.

Southgate started the chase positively, with Amila blasting 37 from 30 balls alongside Jason in a solid opening partnership. The middle order then showed real strength, with Rahman scoring 26 from 31 balls and Rupesh making an entertaining 34 from 42 deliveries, including some massive sixes.

A special mention goes to Bhavesh, who scored his first Southgate league fifty with a composed 50 from 67 balls. He batted brilliantly in an anchor role, rotating the strike well and punishing the bad balls.

The lower order provided a strong finish to the innings, including a huge six from Divyen during his quickfire 34 from 26 balls. Kevin also added valuable late-order runs with an unbeaten 24 from 16 deliveries, including some classy boundaries.

Southgate eventually finished on 272/8 from their 45 overs. In the end, some loose bowling and untidy fielding proved costly, with around 60 extra runs ultimately making the difference.

Despite the result, the first league game of the season for the 3rd XI was an enjoyable one with plenty of positives to take away. Considering the late cry-offs before the match, the team competed well, and with a few improvements there is plenty of confidence for a strong season ahead.

Mohit Bajaj