Finch 1’s
Match number 10 and the start of the second half of the HCPL campaign as Henley are the visitors to unbeaten Finches for the 120 overs match.

Very hot sunny conditions as on winning the toss Henley elected to bat first. Openers Jonny Connell and George Politis started very well with their best partnership this season. They saw the 100 up but then at 110 Connell fell caught at long off for 74 off spinner James Woodford. When Politis fell bowled by Lewis Sharp in the 34th over for his 57 the scoreline was 142 – 2.
60 more runs gathered when at 202 Charlie Dunnett was caught behind off Eddie Campion. Then at 209 and 226 Henley suffered two run outs so five down and 12 overs available. The second run out was Matt Darymple for his 58. Sound batting by Euan Brock with 37 not out enabled the visitors to post a workmanlike 289 – 8 in the 64 overs. There were three wickets for Eddie Campion.

With 56 overs available Finches started poorly as Greg Smith was bowled by Josh Lawson with the eighth ball. The score had progressed to 43 when skipper Dan Marles fell lbw so two down. Worse followed with James Isbell caught at 60 then at 65 Ben Salter also out caught. So 65 – 4 and only 19 overs bowled.

The much needed partnership then arrived with 100 put on in 18 overs. Tommie Predgen showed good batting character before being lbw for 35 so 165 – 4. His batting partner Eddie Campion continued with fluent strokes but soon lost Jed Crerar at 174. Joined by Lewis Sharp the pair saw the score to 250 in 54 overs with Eddie having reached his century. At 250 Lewis fell caught for 37. At the close with Eddie not out a fine 115 the innings closed at 261 – 7.
The recovery innings gained Finches 18 points from the match with the winning draw. So two successive home matches with all four innings being over 250 so a pair of fine matches here. The team are now second in the table 4 points behind Oxford Downs with High Wycombe and Banbury 8 points between them behind.

Finch 2’s
Were away to Reading 1’s and after winning the toss and electing to field, Finchampstead made an encouraging start, reducing Reading to 42-2. However, a superb 195-run partnership between Arjun Srinivasan (78) and Praful Waghela (106) wrestled control back. Anthony Parson (2-66) and Peter Emes (1-46) were the pick of the bowlers, while Kailan Patel and Aryan Gavankar also chipped in with a wicket apiece as Reading closed on a competitive 260-5 from 52 overs.

Finch reply began poorly with an early wicket, but Joe Sheldon (55) and Connor Rees (73) rebuilt impressively, adding 131 for the second wicket to keep the chase alive. Once the partnership was broken, regular wickets stalled the momentum however. The run rate required escalated and Finch unfortunately had to settle for a draw finishing on 213-8. Finch gained 11pts and are 4th in a very tight division still at the top.

Finch 3’s
Travelled to Binfield who won the toss and elected to bat first. Michael Carson playing his first game of the season opened for Binfield and made 178 off just 136 balls (a shame he didn’t wait a week to re-appear)! Wickets were hard to come by for the finch attack and Binfield declared on 311-3 from 48 overs. Ethan Chapman with a fine effort of 15 overs seam bowling in the heat (2-79).

Finch’s reply started badly openers within the first 6 overs. Freddie Bishop however carried the aggressive approach and made a fine 86 from 77 balls to keep Finch with a small hope of a win. The middle order all chipped in but regular wickets fell with the run rate required up to ten an over. Aidan Muir (34) and Lewis O’Donoghue 34* ensured Finch ended on a commendable 282-9 to ensure the draw and claim 12pts.

Finch 4’s
Hosted Newbury on the leas looking to avenge their Week 1 defeat. Newbury won the toss and chose to bat losing their opener 2nd ball of the game. The other opener was dismissed for 60 by Matt Harper who was by far the pick of the bowlers with 2-21 from 9 overs. Regular wickets fell throughout but with the fast scoring outfield Newbury were always able to maintain a good rate and were finally bowled out for 248 in the 44th over.

Openers Steve Raubenheimer and Aarohi Bambode quickly showed how good a surface it was and put Finch in a commanding position with a stand of 141. They were dismissed in quick succession; Steve 84 from 64 and Aarohi run a ball 53. Rui Wright at 3 continued his form with a quick-fire 45 to leave Finch coasting needing only 40 to win. As ever Finch made it hard with a huge collapse and when Ben Amor was bowled Finch still required 2 runs with 1 wicket now left. Luckily they scraped home for a third straight win despite the embarrassed faces after.

Finch 5’s
Captained by Charlie Gilbey (youngest ever Finch captain) travelled to Shinfield and we choose to bat. Finch were soon in trouble on a pitch with varied bounce and slumped to 40-5. Small resistance followed but at 102-8 Finch were looking well short. Shubh Rathod dug in with 31* and ensured Finch batted all the overs taking the total to 163-9.
Early wickets were hard to come by but when 3 wickets fell in 5 overs Shinfield were reduced to 50-3. Sensible batting followed however and despite Finch taking a couple more wickets, Shinfield comfortable chased down the total with 5 wickets to spare and 11 overs in hand. Stuart Mcewan a good spell of bowling with 2-20.

Finch Women
Played at Wargrave on Sunday who batted first and got off to very fast start bringing up 80 in just 9 overs. Finch regrouped however and pace off the ball worked well in the middle overs taking wickets and reducing the scoring rate. Despite Wargrave only losing 4 wickets in their 35 overs Finch kept the total down to 232 off the 35 overs on a rapid outfield.

Aarohi Bambode and Sahasra Gupta quickly demonstrated how fast scoring the conditions were and without risk or any chances put on a hugely impressive partnership of 167. Aarohi 81 from just 61 balls. Another wicket fell however some big hits from Jess Isbell 30* ensured an emphatic 8 wicket win with 8 overs still to spare. Sahasra carried her bat making 92* off just 78 balls and deserved a century had the target been bigger.

The weekend ended with some very disappointing news as Mumbai Cricket Association recalled Aarohi back for early pre-season training with no notice or warning. She was extremely upset to leave having left India for the first ever time, but was left with little choice given the cricket politics in India. A successful time at the club cut short for reasons making little sense, both from a cricketing and personal development perspective. We wish her well for the coming season in India and she is adamant that she will return having loved the club and people so much.