See-saw tussle tips the way of The Jesters at Eastcote

Jesters CC 227-7 (Khanna 63, Gilham 42, Murphy 32*)

Eastcote 209 all out (Khanna 4-12, Hayes 3-32)

A tight, see-saw game. Having won the toss, being a man short and on a hot day the skipper sent Eastcote out to field. Jesters were soon under the cosh at 27/3 - Christian Jardine, Acton CC's Aussie pro out 5th ball, plus Matt Griffiths and Shorbo Nag all dismissed by their handy opening bowler.

Then, the fightback: Rob Gilham (42) and Adi Kharna (63) put on a battling stand of 115, both keeping the scoreboard ticking over between regular boundaries. After they fell in quick succession and the skipper was out cheaply, Eastcote generously offered us the opportunity for one batsmen to have a second dig. Christian was unable to improve his day, chipping in with 12 runs off 8 balls before falling lbw to record an unwanted possible Jesters first, out twice in the same innings!

 At 162/7 off 32 overs we were looking at a below-par score, before a promoted Dan Hayes and John Murphy put their tiring attack to the sword, stroking elegant and brutal boundaries respectively in what turned out to be our second match-winning partnership, 65 runs taking to us to a defendable total of 227. 
 A superb tea was then arguably the real winner of the day (scones with jam & cream the highlight). Eastcote's innings got off to a flyer, 55 off 8 overs with their skipper making the most of a fielding contingent reduced to nine by Matt Griffiths' temporary departure to run his airport taxis side-hustle.

 An unfazed Dan Hayes (8-2-32-3) got us back into the match with three quick wickets including lightning caught & bowled reactions to dismiss the free-scoring opener. They then fought back strongly with a 67-run partnership taking them to a potentially match-winning position of 176/6 off 29 overs, before a hasty single gave our skipper the chance to turn back the years with a direct-hit run out to dismiss their top-scorer, who wasn't looking like getting out any time soon.

 Their tail-enders continued to keep them in the frame, but Adi Kharna completed his man of the match performance with a passable DJ Chak impersonation, taking the last four wickets for just 12 runs off 4.2 overs.

 Well done to the whole Jesters team, everyone made important contributions (Matt Griffiths, James Standley and Jagdish Menezes also put in strong bowling performances), and many thanks to Eastcote CC for their generous hospitality on and off the field, above and beyond the norm.

Jesters X: A Smith (c), Nag (wk), Griffiths, Gilham, Khanna, Murphy, Jardine, Hayes, Standley, Menezes