MPBCC 3rd XI scored an impressive win over Preston III.

Two nearly-won, rain abandoned games in the recent past had the 3rd XI itching for more, bright sunny day of 25th July promised an exciting day of cricket. Captain Dave Halsey won the toss and invited Preston III to bat; and immediately Preston were encountered by a steady display of fast bowling by RajanDeep Singh and Hamid Noormohamed.

Simon Luxton and Captain Steve King provided a steady but slow start to Preston III’s innings. Soon MPBCC bowlers struck thrice in quick succession and Luxton was left tottering at one end while wickets at other end continued to fall. Lee Varinga (41) joined Luxton to provide an excellent partnership in the middle order. In the end Preston chose to declare their innings at 180 for 8 at the end of 44 overs. Opener Simon Luxton was the lynchpin with an inning of 71.

MPBCC 3rd XI had 46 overs to chase an imposing total of 180, Sid Anwar (46) and Pete Fletcher (22) provided a solid start to the innings. Wickets were hard to come by for Preston and none of the Met. Police batsmen were prepared to go down without a fight. MPBCC 3rd XI managed to keep the their wickets intact and kept the scoreboard ticking. After the fall of Singh’s (14) wicket, captain Halsey joined Sid in the middle

Dave played stroked all around the wickets and looked in ominous touch. Andy Murphy joined Halsey at the fall of Sid’s wicket, and kept the chase alive, but the aggressive Halsey running between the wickets took a toll on Andy's hamstring and forced him to retire. Dave Halsey displayed an outstanding array of strokes and ensured MPBCC 3rd XI reach the target of 181 with four balls to spare, in the process completing his half century and stayed unbeaten at 51.

This long awaited seven wickets win over a much higher placed Preston III, will provide MPBCC 3rd XI much needed confidence booster to perform even better in the remaining six matches of the season.