Not a win but not a loss as Falkland held previously unbeaten Cove to an entertaining draw in Division 1 of the Thames Valley League.
After winning the toss and bowling first, new ball pairing of Gul Afridi and Jason Williams bowled well but without much luck. The introduction of Bobby Malik was the major turning point as he slowed the run rate up dramatically with a mixture of spin and bounce and taking wickets at regular intervals. With Cove seemingly cruising at 81-0 they soon found themselves losing wickets at regular intervals. At 171-6 Falkland looked to be keeping Cove down to a reasonable score but a drop catch on 15 allowed Naqvi all the momentum he needed and with some big hits he took the score up to 246-8 and Naqvi ending up unbeaten on 51. With Falkland not having a regular wicket keeper available they ended up shipping 35 extras which ultimately led to a far bigger total than the Falkland bowlers deserved. Malik was the stand out for Falkand with 5 for 72 off 20 overs. Gul Afridi also stood out with 2-82 off 19 overs with Jason Williams 1-31 and Nigel Trumper 0-27 the other bowlers.

Falkland needed a strong start and it was no wonder they got it as Will Langmead continued his strong start to the season as dispatched anything loose. Falkland soon raced past the 50 mark without any bother but has so often been the case all the season, Falkland lost too many wickets in clusters and from 58-0 they were soon 62-3 with Wood (14), Bloodworth (16) and Ali (3) all back in the clubhouse. Falkland tried to rebuild but with Langmead next man out for 37, up went any hope of victory and saving the game was the only option left the Falkland tail that only wagged all season.
Dave Bloor (30) and Jason Williams (20) rebuilt the innings and took time out the game but once Williams was dismissed with 12 overs remaining it seemed the game was up. Gul Afridi joined Nigel Trumper and a strong determination not to give their wicket away began to eat away at Cove as all sorts of bowlers were being tried and without success. Cove were forced to bring back their overseas quick Sri Lanken but this did nothing to deter Trumper and Gul as they successfully saw out the remaining overs and took Falkland up to 190-1. A tremendous effort from Trumper saw him finish unbeaten on 17 and Afridi 8.
Falkland now face a tough task heading to Cookham Dean who are the new front runners and also unbeaten in the league.