2012

Sun 29 July                                    Elstree                                Won by 46 runs

We    262/6 in 40 overs      (Ajit Ramsagar 67, Amit Shanker 63, Tabrez Khan 52*, Al Naser Regan 33, Humberstone 2/37)
They 216/10 in 38.3 overs (Thankon 60, Grace 45, Ward 30, Navneet Bali 4/31, Stefanos Nayar 3/31)

Elstree kindly accommodated Kensington as a last minute replacement on a day when everyone wanted to play cricket with the sun shining and rain gods away.  Elstree skipper John doing a great job of resurrecting Elstree on a ground used by another London club.

Kensington won the toss and openers Ramsagar and Regan put on 72 for the first wicket.  Regan batted with resolute determination to prove he had some defensive shots in his book, but Humberstone finally got through one of his shots for glory.  San, next in, was unlucky to get a delivery that didn’t bounce at all.  Shanker continued the good work with yet another 50.  Young Vinay Chaggar got unlucky with a thick edge to point and Stefanos got run out cheaply.  Meanwhile, Ajit continued his run scoring spree, getting out by mistiming what would have been a good leg-side six.  Skipper Khan helped himself to a second successive 50 scored on the last ball of the innings.  Elstree bowlers were glad it was over.

The rain gods realised KCC was having too much fun so decided to dampen the field and the pitch, much to the chagrin of KCC bowlers who wouldn’t take no for an answer.  With a generous dose of hay and bravado the game resumed.  Elstree openers started off well, picking off the bad balls and causing concern in the KCC camp.  Nayar Senior had some fun by bowling off a proper run up for a change and bowled the Elstree skipper with a beauty.  Seethal got the well deserved wicket of Joe T and that opened the flood gates.  The show belonged to Nayar Junior, Navneet Bali (when he wasn’t being hit for six) and young Chaggar who wanted to impress his watching dad.  In the cold and wet, the trio bowled with concentration and guile to take eight wickets between them and the rear guard of J Ward was left unsupported by the Elstree tail.  A nice smell of victory in the KCC changing rooms left smiles on every face and post match beers proved remarkably delicious!