Finch 1’s
On winning the toss Finches skipper Dan Marles asked Wargrave to take first strike.
The hosts soon reached 50 in 9 overs mainly thanks to strokes by county opener Rhys Lewis – fresh from his exceptional double hundred against Oxfordshire. Then Lewis was stumped off the fifth ball bowled by spinner Samm Daniel.

At 72 and 15 overs Wargrave were then three down. A good catch in the deep by Ben Salter off Liam Bulteel then a second wicket for Samm with a catch behind. At 32 overs the fourth had fallen then 4 overs later it was 149 – 5 with both wickets to spinner Eddie Campion. When Samm took the sixth wicket at 161 in the 37th over the hosts had progressed well. This was mainly due to their skipper Toby Greatwood. Then his fluent innings of 81 ended bowled by Lewis Sharp with only 3 overs available remaining and 205 on the board.

The end came swiftly the last three wickets falling for 12 runs with two by Ben Salter and Lewis Sharp taking the other to see the score of 217 all out for Wargrave in the last over.

Finches opened with James Isbell and Greg Smith but soon faltered. James was run out by a direct throw with only 17 on the board then Tommie Predgen was caught at extra cover so the scoreline 29 – 2 in 7 overs. The innings then steadied with a 63-run stand by Greg and Dan Marles. Then at 92 Dan was caught behind. Soon after at 101 and in the 24th over Greg was out stumped for his fine 59.

When Ben Salter was bowled then Jed Crerar followed lbw it was a worrying 130 – 6 and still 88 more runs needed in the 19 remaining overs for Finches. Then steady batting by Eddie Canmpion and Lewis Sharp gradually saw Finches towards the target. But at 189 and after the 59-run stand Lewis fell caught. So only 4 overs remaining and still 29 needed with only 3 wickets in hand.

Samm Daniel was bowled the first ball of the 47th over then 17 were needed off the last two overs with 8 wickets down. A fine 49th over saw 11 runs and the 50 up for Eddie. The last over saw 6 needed. By the fourth ball the scores were level. Then the fifth ball was bravely hit for six by James Woodford to see the win with one ball remaining at 223 – 8. Eddie finished on his really impressive 56 not out.

The narrow win returns Finches to second slot behind now league winners High Wycombe and 11 points ahead of Oxford Downs.

Finch 2’s
Finch 2’s hosted Binfield 1’s and after winning the toss elected to bat first. Similar to last week however batting woes continued but unlike at Sulhamstead, Finch were not able to muster a rescue act. Zac Leonard was caught first ball of the game and that set the tone with wickets falling constantly and Finch were bolwed out for 98 inside 20 overs. Michael O’Donoghue making 38 was the only highlight.

Ultimately knowing that the result was in little doubt Finch did stick to the task and bowled well enabling them to take 5 wickets. A day to forget however and Finch will look to try and finish 3rd by winning their two remaining games.

Finch 3’s
Finch 3’s were also away to Wargrave on the new second pitch at the same venue as the main ground. Late dropouts and bad availability meant Wargrave could only field 9 men and captain Gareth Fearon agreed to bowl first when winning the toss. Both openers for Wargrave are prolific run scorers in Division 4 and they put on an excellent 146-run opening stand with the opener also going on to make a century. The lack of depth soon showed however and Wargrave stuttered to 227-5 after 45 overs ultimately wasting their good start.

The flatness of the pitch, outfield speed and lack of bowling options soon became evident when Finch batted with the run rate above 7’s from the outset. Joe Simmons made another fine 50 and Steve Brogan continued his fine form smashing 107* from only 66 balls. Finch cruised to an 8-wicket victory in under 30 overs to relegate the home side who are clearly struggling this year as a club.

Finch 4’s
Finch 4’s were home to Theale & Tilehurst on the leas looking to continue their winning run. The visitors won the toss and elected to bat however the pace trio of Tom Allen, Ishaan Moitra and Lewis O’Donoghue were all excellent restricting T&T to only 80-2 at the halfway drinks. They looked to accelerate after however Finch managed to avoid any huge damage and restricted them to 210-6. The three seamers above mentioned seamers all bowling 9 overs for less than 4RPO.

Much like the 3’s Finch openers started in dominant fashion with Freddie Bishop making another 50 and Steve Raubenheimer 39. Three quick wickets fell however the run rate was well above a run a ball. Ben Simmons (55*) and Ian Rose (43*) ensured there were no scares in the chase forming an unbroken 4th wicket partnership of 106 to give Finch a 7 wcket win - an 11th win in a row for the 4’s who need one more win to sela promotion.

Finch 5’s
Finch 5’s were scheduled to play Stratfield & Turgis 2’s however our opponents forfeited early in the week unable to rise a side. The committee were able to arrange a friendly however against Purely on Thames 3’s who are also in Level 9 of the TVL. Finch batted first with U15 Isaac Neville making 49 and Nick Hutchins fine form continued making 52. Finch were bowled out for 202.

Purely once again as seems to be the theme had a very aggressive opener who made a quick-fire 97 putting the visitors in control. Finch battled hard though and managed to take 6 Purley wickets before they chased down the target. Shub Rathod 3-47 the pick of the bowlers in a well worthwhile game on a week where the club had good availability. The 5’s safe from any relegation fears now after being awarded the points.

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