Finch 1’s
Match number nine at High Wycombe was preceded by a presentation to Finch skipper Dan Marles. This marked his 200th match in the HCPL with the host club chair Chris Sketchley presented a special embroidered cap and from Finch president Neil an engraved salver.

Winning the toss High Wycombe elected to bat first. They batted steadily putting on 40 then the first wicket fell to a caught behind off Lewis Sharp. At 70 and the 23rd over Steve Parry was also caught behind this time off Ethan Ramsay. Next over Ollie Thilo bowled Steve Pardoe so at 76 – 3.

By the 33rd over Sam Seecharan had dismissed both Lincoln brothers. He had Dan caught behind then Josh trapped lbw. Two overs later he secured his third wicket leaving the hosts 102 - 6 in 35 overs. When spinner Eddie Campion had Connor Haddow caught it was trouble for High Wycombe at 112 – 7. But Brian Hardy continued his steady innings seeing the score to the 150 mark.

Then it was 152 – 8 with a run out and still 9 overs available. Then High Wycombe with 37 valuable runs closed on 189 – 8 in their 64 overs with Parry 63 not out. For Finch Sam Seecharam returned a remarkable 3 – 8 in 6 overs.

Given 56 overs to bat Finches lost James Isbell in the fifth over caught on the square leg boundary. Then Greg Smith and Sam Seecharan batted well for the next 18 overs. But at 98 Greg fell bowled by spinner Connor Haddow. At 104 Ben Salter was also bowled by Haddow.

Sam continued his innings reaching his 50 accompanied by Dan Marles. But at 140 Dan fell caught at short leg again off Haddow. The fifth wicket fell at 146 as the Wycombe spinners bowled very tightly. 44 were needed in 16 overs, 25 more runs came along when at 171 Sam was caught and bowled for his 84. Immediately Ethan Ramsay was stumped so at 171 – 7 there were 19 runs needed and only 5 overs left. Amid the tension 8 were needed in two overs. The last over saw Jed Crerar cooly stroke the first and second balls of the last over for boundaries. A great three-wicket win with just 4 balls remaining.

The fine but so close win for unbeaten Finches who are now top the HCPL table by 5 points from Banbury who are next Saturday’s visitors to Finch which completes the first half of the fixtures. We also wish former seamer Liam Bulteel a speedy recovery who was only able to bowl 7 balls during our reply to a suspected side-strain.

Finch 2’s
Hosted Cove on the leas due to the annual summer fete taking place on the main ground. On winning the toss Finch chose to bowl, however the Cove openers put on a fine opening partnership of 124 with Dubs Wood (son of Julian) scoring a fine 87. Aryan Gavankar producing a fine spell dismissing each of the top three batters (3-34). Once the middle-order was exposed James Woodford got to work and ripped through the middle order taking 5-58 off his maximum 15 overs reducing Cove to 173-8. The 9th wicket partnership put on 49 and was only broken off the final ball of the innings giving a final score of 232-9 for Finch to chase in 48 overs.

Finch started briskly with Tommie Predgen making 45 off only 40 balls and fellow opener Matt Eldridge also making a fluent half century. Form man Connor Rees was given out lbw despite sweeping the ball for 4 for only 1 meaning Finch were 114-3. A 4th wicket partnership of 77 between Michael O’Donoghue and Joe Sheldon put Finch in control however both were dismissed for 46 which also led to another two quick wickets falling. Lewis Smith and Pete Emes kept calm during an unbeaten 31 partnership to give Finch a 3-wicket win and maximum points.

Finch 3’s
Home game was at Blewbury CC against Falkland after such good feedback from our 5’s from their game last week. Finch won the toss and elected to bat. Both openers were dismissed in quick succession with the score around 50 however Ed Oliver and Wes Roberts counter-attacked with hard hitting during a stand of 87, Wes dismissed for 52 off just 38 balls. This didn’t stop Ed however who unfortunately fell just three runs short of a well deserved century (97 off 94 balls) – A definite case of form is temporary, class is permanent! With the lower order all chipping in Finch were finally all out for 295 in 49 overs giving Falkland 51 overs.

Finch started well with an early wicket for in-form Tom Allen and continued to chip away ensuring no partnership was able to fully be established. Falkland found themselves 78-4, 113-5 and then 143-6. Leo Clark batting at number 5 however was on 36* at this stage and produced some brutal hitting with an unwavering positive approach despite the time game format. His result defining 7th wicket partnership of 126 with his skipper totally flipped the momentum of the game and despite an 8th wicket falling he finished on 122* from just 82 balls. Finch once again were left to rue some costly fielding errors but did get a haul of 16pts from the tight loss. Two wickets each for the three seamers Tom Allen, Liam Amy and Lewis O’Donoghue.

Finch 4’s
Travelled to Silchester known for their batting prowess and after losing the toss found themselves fielding first for the first time this season. It was evident early par score would be high however Finch didn’t help themselves throughout bowling far too many wides. Silchester got to 137-3 with number 4, Kanwir Hashir quickly getting into his stride. Despite minimal support he produced a masterclass chanceless knock of 140 off only 87 balls clearing the ropes 11 times some of which going 20/30m over the boundary. He guided his team to 331-8 off 45 overs. Matt Arnold was the stand-out bowler for Finch bowling his 9 overs unchanged in the middle overs returning figures of 1-35.

A daunting chase but clutching to the positives of one short boundary and a very fast outfield openers Aarohi Bambode (19-year-old new arrival Indian overseas women’s player from Mumbai) and Kwame Appiah attacked from the outset. Kwame dismissed for 26 in an opening stand of 61 in just 9 overs. Aarohi carried on her merry-way playing shots off both front and back foot finally being dismissed for 79 off 67 balls leaving Finch 141-3 at the 20-over stage. Tom Walker and Ian Rose then kept the run rate required to a high but manageable figure during an excellent 4th wicket stand of 114 – Tom falling for 40. When Ian Rose was dismissed for 73 off 57 balls in the same over as Yash Mahadik Finch’s hopes seemed to be fading, still requiring 46 from just over 4 overs. Alex Bewick however had other ideas skillfully keeping strike whilst finding the off-side boundaries with ease. 24 were needed from the final two overs and when 17 came from the penultimate over the damage was done – with Alex fittingly hitting the winning runs with a 6 over point to finish on 38* off just 15 balls to give Finch an amazing win with just 3 balls remaining. A record-breaking run chase for the 4’s against the 2nd place side in the league – certainly a game to remember for all involved.

Finch 5’s
Were back at fortress Windlesham hosting Bracknell 5’s and on winning the toss Finch elected to bat. Sean Cilliers was in fine form opening the batting scoring an excellent 85 from 100 balls. His opening partner Aryan Khanna made 37 with many other small contributions from the middle order. Charlie Gilbey batting 8 finished the innings with some hard hitting making 33 from 23 balls to ensure Finch posted 237-8 off 40 overs. A competitive total at the halfway stage although small square boundaries as ever.

Bracknell started their reply in positive fashion and reached 90 for the loss of just one wicket with the run rate on track. Charlie Gilbey and Emiliano Alessandrini the first and second change bowlers bowled brilliant in tandem to put Finch in the ascendancy. Charlie (2-37) and Emilio (4-46) left Bracknell 187-7. A small scare with the tail wagging but Finch prevailed winning by just 7 runs. A fine team performance and a confidence boosting victory.

Sunday U21’s hosted a strong Valley End side in the first league game of the U21 Surrey League competition. Finch were asked to bat by Valley End and Pete Emes batting 3 made an excellent 50 taking advantage of an opportunity to bat up the order. Aidan Muir (30) was the only other main contributor as Finch were bowled out for 169.

Valley End lost two early wickets but recovered to take the total to 60. From this point Finch took control and dominated despite the flat wicket and friendly batting conditions. The spin trio of Louis Crerar, Kailan Patel and Aidan Muir took 9 wickets between them as regular wickets fell with no partnerships getting above 20. Valley End bowled out for 137 giving Finch an excellent 32 run victory.

Finch Women hosted Wargrave on the main pitch and were asked to bat. Opener Aarohi Bambode quickly carried on from the day before making a brisk 52 from 42 balls. Aarya Khanolkar batting three made 42 with all of the middle order keeping the scoreboard ticking over at a good rate. Late wickets fell in pursuit of quick runs with Finch being bowled out for 210 with just 2 balls remaining of the 35 overs allowed.

Opening bowlers Jess Isbell and Alex Gulliver took two wickets each and with Wargrave 57-4 well behind the run rate required the result seemed in minimal doubt. A good 5th wicket partnership of 50 was broken and Wargrave never troubled the Finch total finishing on 130-9. Finch winning by 80 runs with all bowlers being highly economical.

Upcoming Fixtures
1’s – Banbury (H)
2’s – High Wycombe (A)
3’s – Fleet (A)
4’s – Stratfield & Turgis (H)
5’s – Royal Ascot (A)
Sun U21’s – Esher (A)