3XI v Friends United 4s (away)
Parinda Kularatne 3-16
Kazi Hassan 5-22 & 52
Nevin Kularatne 25
After several weeks of frustration, there was something noticeably different about the mood around the Southgate 3rd XI before a ball had even been bowled against Friends United 4th XI. Perhaps it was the return of Sarfraz Hafeji for his first appearance of the season, the welcome return of colt Nevin Kularatne fresh from completing his GCSEs, or Santosh Shankar being back representing his local club after spending much of the season playing cricket down in Kent. Or perhaps it was simply Nish Shah, who spent the entire warm-up proudly showing off the new sunglasses he’d been eagerly waiting to wear. His excitement proved a fitting microcosm of the feeling throughout the squad – refreshed, confident and quietly optimistic that this looked like a side capable of finally getting its first win.
After winning the toss and bowling first, opening pair Parinda Kularatne and Arpit Katoch immediately justified that optimism. Both bowled with exceptional control, giving the Friends United batters little room to breathe. Parinda claimed three deserved wickets, while Arpit was desperately unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet himself after repeatedly beating the bat or forcing false strokes. As Sarfraz quipped from the field, "They don’t know what a leave is," with the opposition seemingly determined to play at everything.
The early momentum was perfectly captured by a superb catch from Kevin Lazarus at mid-wicket. With Southgate’s fielding having let them down in recent weeks, Kevin's sharp grab felt significant. It wasn’t just another wicket; it reinforced the confidence that had been building before the game and set the standard for an excellent day in the field.
Alan Babwah and Santosh Shankar took over first change. Alan continued his habit of striking early, although luck perhaps deserted him thereafter despite inducing several edges and miscued drives that just evaded fielders. Santosh initially searched for rhythm - perhaps understandable given the amount of wicketkeeping he'd been doing in Kent - but there were flashes of real quality as the ball swung, beat the bat and hinted that wickets were never far away. Although Friends United recovered from 31-3 to 100-5, that owed more to the outstanding foundation laid by the opening bowlers than any lack of quality from the change bowlers.
Any thoughts of the innings drifting disappeared once Kazi Hassan and Nevin entered the attack. Kazi produced a masterclass in park cricket bowling: simple, accurate and relentlessly making the pitch do the work for him. His outstanding figures of 5-22 from 6.3 overs deservedly broke the backbone of the innings. At the other end, Nevin’s deceptive leg-spin repeatedly left batters bamboozled before claiming a wicket of his own as Friends United were bowled out for 143 in 35.3 overs.
The chase demanded sensible batting on a pitch offering inconsistent bounce, and openers Kazi and Nevin judged it superbly. Complementing each other as well with the bat as they had with the ball, they added an invaluable 77-run opening partnership. Kazi's half-century included a six that seemed to disappear into orbit before only just clearing the boundary rope, while Nevin's composed 25 ended only thanks to an outstanding catch on the leg side - rather unexpected given the visitors’ earlier fielding display.
Nish, eager to finally swap modelling sunglasses for wielding a bat, arrived at number three, while Bhavesh Kotecha kept the scoreboard moving. Sarfraz then treated everyone to a few vintage cover drives that reminded us exactly why they've become his trademark, before one final ambitious drive found a fielder courtesy of another excellent catch - perhaps not the percentage option on a pitch like this. Kevin then continued his recent love affair with maximums by launching another huge six. Thankfully, unlike last week's effort, no windows required replacing this time. Divyen calmly struck the winning runs as Southgate reached 144-5 in just 28 overs to seal a five-wicket victory.
Kazi Hassan was the deserved Player of the Match for his outstanding all-round display of 52 runs and five wickets, setting the benchmark for the rest of the side.
Most pleasing of all, however, was that the confidence evident before the first ball came to fruition. The 3rd XI season is finally up and running. If the fielding maintains this standard and the batting can show just a little more discipline in finishing games off, there is every reason to believe this performance will prove to be the first of many.
By Alan Babwah