Finchley

2022

Wed 27 July                                 Finchley                          Won by 6 runs

We     176/5 in 20 overs  (Tim Keleher 119*, David Behar 15, Nitin Chaturvedi 13, Gishan Herath 2/35)

They  170/7 in 20 overs  (Gishan Herath 71*, Ben Powe 33, Joe Nissim 15, Rajat Mehta 2/28, Matt Marshall 2/42)

A return to Finchley for another midweek 20/20 after being convincingly beat last season. With no pink balls available it ended up being a stroke of luck to bat first. Skipper Tim continued on from his previous innings here and set the tone from the outset with a slew of boundaries, racing to his half century in just 29 balls on a lightning-fast outfield. The pace continued during the second half of the innings with all Finchley bowlers receiving the same treatment as Tim first reached his century before finishing 119 not out at the end of the innings with a very respectable 176 runs on the board.

The KCC bowling and fielding performance started in excellent fashion, especially in denying Finchley too many boundaries as they struggled to 60 for 3 at the halfway point. Enter young Finchley number 6, Gishan Herath, who single-handedly set about chasing down our total in what was becoming near darkness in the middle of the pitch. Ageing KCC eyes on the boundary were also struggling to pick up the ball. Gishan brought Finchley to the brink of unlikely victory entering the final over as we leant on the experience of Matty Marshall to lead us home. With a penchant for leg side hitting all 5 KCC boundary riders were now positioned between backward square leg and cow corner! Matty held his nerve with 6 required off the last ball for a tie as we snuck home for a well fought victory, Gishen ending up unbeaten on 71 from just 30 balls.
Tim Keleher in striking form in a one-man display of batsmanship
Tim Russell joins in briefly
Tim Keleher raises his bat for his fine 119 not out in 63 balls

2021

Thur 24 June                             Finchley                                 Lost by 39 runs

They  196/6 in 20 overs  (Jamie Powe 53, Joe Lowe 47*, Tom Powe 34, Archie Parnum 3/36, Charan Shetty 2/27)

We  157/9 in 20 overs  (Tim Keleher 68, Jineth Dissanayake 18, Tim Russell 16, Wajid Tahir 16, Tom Powe 3/8, Joe Lowe 3/26)

A debut midweek T20 fixture against one of the strongest Middlesex Premier League clubs was always going to present a huge challenge.

Finchley batted first on an awesome batting track and did not take their foot off the pedal from the start. The opening pair smashed 66 in the first 6 overs, after which KCC were able to gain the upper hand for a period of overs thanks to some excellent bowling from Charan Shetty and young Archie Parnum making his KCC debut. They collectively took 5 wickets to have us well poised with Finchley somewhat floundering at 116 for 6. But before we could blink, the Finchley Lowe/Powe combination went ballistic, helping them to 80 runs off the final 6 overs and an imposing target of 196.

Skipper Tim got off to a flying start, taking 16 off the first over on his way to reaching 50 in just 22 balls. Yet once he fell for 68 the hope of a successful chase quickly fell apart. We managed to bat out our overs to reach a respectable, but ultimately under par score of 157.