Beating odds of 1024/1, 3rd XI skipper James Bloodworth made it 10 losses from 10 when it came to the toss against Binfield 3rd XI on Saturday. Being put in to bat on a damp deck with a slow outfield wasn’t the dream start, and with a reduced overs game ahead of them Falkland’s 3’s knew they had to get runs on the board as quickly as possible as more rain was threatened and a reduced target for their opponents was likely.

The weather stayed away as our batters toiled, with boundaries hard to come by, but a great return to cricket for keeper Rowan Hathaway (50) held the innings together, with Hathaway’s clever batting making him tough to set a field against, finding gaps consistently, and his speed between the wickets meant there was a steady flow of quick singles. Useful contributions came from Theo Smith (24) and Prakrit Bhagat (17) and Falkland found their way to a satisfactory total of 156 all out, with 8 balls of their innings left unplayed.

Bloodworth’s plan to bag early wickets was played out beautifully by opening bowlers Prakrit Bhagat (2-17-6) and Zach Pool (1-30-6) as Binfield were reduced to 28-3 when lightening and rain interrupted the innings just 7.2 overs in. 8 overs of play were lost and Binfield’s target was reduced to 123. The introduction after the delay of Theo Smith (4-12-6) and Razon Dash (2-10-6) saw Falkland quickly and ruthlessly rip through the remaining Binfield batters, Smith taking a world class catch from his own bowling, leaving everyone on the field stunned, and the innings was clinically wrapped up by overseas Meika King (1-3-1) with Binfield all out for 74.

A vital win for our 3’s, which moves us up to 6th from 9th place in division 6B ahead of a home fixture next week against 8th placed Bagshot 2nd XI, where Bloodworth will look claim maximum points to climb further up the ranks.