2s a win away from promotion

Vish Patel’s 2s are now just one win away from securing back-to-back promotions following a 103-run victory over local rivals Ealing Trailfinders on Saturday.

Batting first, Brentham lost both openers in single figures but contributions all the way through after that pulled The Trees up to 245 off 47 overs. Ahmed Shahid top scored with 51 with Tilly Wijesinghe (39), Hamza Khan (32), Atif Shah (31), Meet Goswami (29), and Dhiraj Khullar (24) also chipping in.

Atif and Tilly then ran riot with the ball, taking nine between them. Atif took a wicket in his first over, on the way to 4-55, while Tilly needed just eight overs to record figures of 5-29. Matt Bunker Jnr took the other wicket to fall as Brentham opened up a 31-point lead with just four to play.

Having led the league all season, victory at Harrow on Saturday will confirm promotion to the second tier.

Brentham’s 3s also took another step towards promotion with a ruthless display at home to Kensington and Chelsea. Harpreet Singh (above reaching his 100) was the star of the show, following up his 4-49 with a blistering 78-ball 109.

The away side recovered from 17-2 to reach 101-2 before spin took over. Harpreet bowled both set batsmen in quick succession to bring about the collapse. At the other end, PD bowled five straight maidens on his way to figures of 1-22 before Aaron Bolger (2-0) came on to clean up the tail.

Chasing 163, John Clapham departed for a first-ball duck with the score on 1 but that was the only success the away side would have. Harpreet took 26 off the fifth over and 20 off the 11th with an array of drives and cuts. Ably supported by Abdul Shukkoor (22*), the pair put on 163 in 112 balls as The Trees reached the total with ease.

Victory means James Hitchcock’s side need a maximum of three more wins to wrap up the league. Next up is a trip to second-from-bottom Indian Gymkhana this weekend.

Krushna Kerai’s 4s also recorded an important win in their battle to avoid the drop, beating Perivale by 44 runs at Perivale Park. The Trees’ total of 251-8 owed much to two juniors, 15-year-old George Allen (46) and 17-year-old Anujan Sribavananthan (44), alongside contributions from Tarun Sharma (31) and Vinay Khetia (29*).

Perivale’s top three all passed 29 but the spin duo of Aditya Patel and Vinay did the damage. Aditya ended with 5-75 while Vinay took 4-85 as Perivale were bowled out as the light faded and with four overs to space.

The 4s are now nine points clear of the relegation places ahead of their home game against second-placed West Harrow at William Perkin.

The 1s suffered a big blow in their fight against relegation, losing to Ealing Trailfinders by 6 wickets. Nik Prajapati (54) and Aadil Khan (48) shared 90 for the first wicket, but once they departed nobody else was able to get past 15 as 128-2 became 174 all out.

After reaching 59-0, Meet Patel (3-71) and Derrick Roper (1-30) reduced the home side to 85-3 but The Trees couldn’t make further inroads quickly enough, Trailfinders reaching their total four down with seven overs to spare.

The gap between the two sides is now six points either side of the dotted line with runaway league leaders Harrow Town up for The Trees on Saturday.

The Chess Valley side also moved to within one win of promotion following their mauling of second-placed Harrow on Sunday. Rohit Khullar (51) and Harpreet (64) laid the foundations for a remarkable late onslaught. Tomek Tsang hit 6 6s in a remarkable 33-ball 73 while Ahmed added 36 off 18 as The Trees passed 300 for the third time in seven outings.

Needing seven-an-over from the start, Harrow were undone by Derrick (2-38) and Faiz Khan (2-26) at the top of the order before Hemen Mehta ran through the middle order on his way to 4-49.

With 24 points from seven games, promotion is, in all likelihood already assured but a win over eighth-placed Stanmore on Sunday would make it mathematically confirmed with a game to spare.