2nd XI vs Finchley

The last week of preseason fixtures saw Southgate 2s make the short hop over to Finchley to face what we expected to be a very strong Finchley side.

Finchley won the toss and decided to bat first - definitely the preferred option on the day.

Finchley started confidently against our seamers - despite an early wicket. This led Southgate’s returning skipper Sam Faruqi to bring on our spinners Amila Cooray and Dheer Shah who squeezed Finchley’s batsmen producing a series of vital wickets which left Finchley 97-5 after 17 overs.

After a late surge of boundaries, a few cameos from Finchley’s lower order (& a few questionable lbws calls) Southgate managed to restrict Finchley to 205 in 34 overs.

Given the quick wrap up to the innings, teas weren’t ready so Southgate’s openers Mustapha Mirza and Amila Cooray had to weather the storm of Finchley’s opening bowlers for 10 overs.

Unfortunately this did not happen owing to some hostile bowling, strong fielding & a questionable lbw which left Southgate 57-3 at tea.

Going out after drinks there wasn’t much to write home about; Finchley’s skipper brought on their spinners who bowled a number of variations to our middle to lower order to leave them guessing & leaving Southgate bowled out for 70.

Not the best showing with the bat for Southgate’s 2nd team. However, there were plenty of positives in the bowling & energy which we can take forward into the season.

Mustapha Mirza

2nd XI vs Old Minchendenians

A glorious afternoon of April sunshine at the Walker, and a beautiful day for some pre-season cricket.

A chastening defeat at Woodford Wells was soon forgotten as Southgate 2s won the toss against Minchendenians and elected to bat. Unfortunately, this meant providing three fielders for the opposition who had a bevy of latecomers.

It was the correct decision, though, as Mustapha Mirza and Amila Cooray put on a century stand. The former retired after passing 50, while a strong knock from Cooray ended with an edged cut on 45.

The new ball had raced to the boundary, but the dry ground and the old ball made it harder to score. Bellwood raced to 20, then ground out 30 more much uglier runs before inviting his bbq victim Mohit to pad up again. There were several positive contributions in a big total of 261.

In reply Minchendenians lost 2 wickets in a rapid first 50 runs before captain Parinda and Arpith ran through the middle order.

After that, it was over as a contest but all the bowlers got valuable mileage in their limbs. 

1st XI vs Holtwhites

Southgate 1st XI travelled to Holtwhites, a well-respected side in the Hertfordshire League, for what has historically been a closely fought fixture.

Southgate won the toss and chose to bat. Sunny and Max got things underway confidently before Max departed at 33 for 1. Both openers looked in good touch, setting a solid platform.

Our first overseas signing from Australia, Liam Collett, then took centre stage. Looking completely at ease on a variable track, he played some elegant shots all around the ground, finishing with a superb 87 off 100 balls, including 11 fours and a six. He was well supported by Scott Ellis (36) and skipper James Dangerfield (21), before Nick added a quick-fire 18 off just 8 balls to give the innings a strong finish.

Southgate closed on 222 for 5 from 40 overs.

Tea was… memorable. Being a “bring your own” setup, there was a brief moment of panic when Josh and Max returned from the petrol station without some of the sandwiches they went to get. Thankfully, no one went hungry and order was restored.

With the ball, James and Will opened up. Will in particular bowled very well and was unlucky not to have more to show for it at times. James did what he does best and beat the outside edge numerous times. 

The Holtwhites’ opener looked a class act, scoring a composed 43, matched by another 43 from one of their middle order. Aside from that, contributions were limited, with the next highest score being 20.

The wickets were shared around, but the standout performance came from Mike Cox, who finished with an excellent 5 for 33 from his 6 overs. Not all of them will make the coaching manual – a couple of half-trackers somehow did the job – but as they say, it’s what goes in the book, and five wickets against a decent side is not to be sniffed at. Well bowled, Coxy.

Southgate wrapped things up impressively, bundling Holtwhites out for 158 in just 30 overs, a superb and disciplined bowling performance backed up by solid work in the field.

The fielding was good overall, with a few chances going down – but that’s what pre-season is for. Everyone got a bat, a bowl, and time in the field, which is exactly what you want at this stage.

All in all, a strong workout and an even stronger result. We say it every year, but there’s a good feeling about the squad across all three teams. With a bit of commitment and consistency, Southgate will be looking to give every side a proper game this season