Ist XI v Chalfont St Giles:

Khan-tastic Victory

Denham won the toss and and of course batted in the baking-hot sunshine.

An almost super-human unbeaten innings of 173 by Usman Khan enabled Denham to reach 249 all out. For the visitors, Hardy got 5/59 and Lancaster 4/68.

The result was in doubt for some time, especially when Lancaster (61) and Cross (57) were at the crease, but Joe O'Hara and Jamil Shaikh shared 8 wickets between them and Denham won by 30 runs.

A big thirty-pointer for Denham, who now move up to fifth.

Points Denham 30 Chalfont St Giles 10

Scorecard

Denham Innings

A.Sabherwal ct. Lancaster b. Cross 28
F.Mahmood ct. A.Hardy b.N.Lancaster 18
U.Khan Not Out 173
J.Nicholas ct. A.Forshaw b. S.Hardy 11
A.Treacy b. S.Hardy 1
J.Shaikh ct. A.Forshaw b. N.Lancaster 0
D.Maynard b. S.Hardy 0
J.O’Hara ct. A.Hardy b. S.Hardy 1
J.Van Niekerk b. N.Lancaster 2
J.Simpson b. N.Lancaster 4
P.Schembri LBW b. S.Hardy 3
Total 249 all out 49.5 overs

Bowling S.Payne 14 1 74 0 N.Lancaster 15 0 68 4 C.Cross 7 0 47 1 S.Hardy 13.5 3 59 5

Chalfont St. Giles

R.Patel LBW b.F.Mahmood 20
S.Lancaster ct. Shaikh b.Simpson 61
C.Cross ct. Maynard b.O’Hara 57
A.Forshaw b.O’Hara 5
N.Lancaster ct. Maynard b. Shaikh 5
C.Baulfield LBW b.O’Hara 5
S.Payne ct.O’Hara b.Shaikh 19
A.Hardy ct.Shaikh b.O’Hara 23
R.Chalmers b.Shaikh 0
T.Duvall b.Shaikh 4
S.Hardy Not Out 4
Total 219 all out 47.3 overs

Bowling J.Shaikh 14.3 3 51 4 F.Mahmood 11 2 49 1 J.Nicholas 7 1 34 0 J.Simpson 6 0 31 1 J.O’Hara 9 1 42 4

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Sunday XI v Brondesbury

10th June

Joe O'Hara (3/54), H Mehta (2/34) and Phil Dickson (2/63) were the main reasons Brondesbury were kept down to 237 all out.

Despite A Saberwhal's elegant unbeaten 122, and a spirited 30 by Joe O'Hara, Denham could not quite keep up with the rate and lost by 17 runs

2nd XI v Hurley: In Doubt Till The End

Jack Grover's Report

At Hurley on Saturday, both the weather and the cricket were uncomfortably close.

Denham won the toss and fielded. Early assistance from the pitch led to breakthroughs by Grover, Sethi and Marman which reduced the home team to 38/4, before Hurley captain Walton's circumspect 45* led the rally to close the innings at 160/5.

The weakened Denham bowling attack toiled in the heat, with Sethi completing a one-spell analysis of 15-6-28-2 and Grover collecting 2 for 36 in 14 overs. Phil Ashworth remained economical as ever, and was unlucky not to take wickets.

Learning from the failings of their counterparts, Denham openers Colin "Flash" Tobin and Mark "The Merciless" Dalton showed respect to the straight ball, and both made promising starts before falling in the 20s.

Denham debutant Ray Rulach made his first visit to the crease for some years to make 0 and get value for his match fee. £10 please, Ray.

Next in was the ever-ready JK. He announced his intentions with a 6 first up and seemed to be getting on top of the bowling when he top-edged behind for 38. Simon Johnson and Sir Stuart Payne were both victims of bad legs, and Denham seemed to be stalling (80/2 to 96/6) when captain Grover joined Atwal at the crease.

With 65 required from 14 on a tough pitch it seemed to be over for Denham, but some newly-discovered batting technique and quick running gave "Puffer" Grover a quickfire 25 and when he was bowled by the wily Woodage (15-6-45-4), the required rate was just below 5 an over. With Alex "Prince Charm'n'" Marman using only as much of the scorers' ink and time as it took to write his name, the match was thrown wide open - Denham needed about 30 runs, Hurley needed only 2 wickets.

Channi "The Wiseman" Sethi and GS "My name is" Atwal pushed the rate up again towards the end of the innings, and with 2 balls left, all 4 results were still possible.

However the only winner was cricket as Denham finished on 151/8. Match drawn.

Perhaps Denham will rue the 15 wides that cost them the game, although past experience suggests the lesson may not be learned...

Points Hurley 12 Denham 5.

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Sunday XI contd

Brondesbury Innings
R.Cooke ct.Braithwaite b.Sabherwal 19
K.Helas ct.O’Hara b.Dickson 18
M.Noah ct.Braithwaite b.O’Hara 22
Q.Nadeem ct.Maynard b.Dickson 75
S.Kankamange LBW b.O’Hara 1
T.Cresswell b.O’Hara 22
A.Cole b.Mehta 31
M.Manier st.Maynard b.Overall 23
A.Deighton Not Out 1
S.Gorst b.Bhatt 2
G.Tucker b.Mehta 8
Total 237 All Out
P.Dickson 8 1 63 2 A.Sabherwal 5 0 21 1 J.O’Hara 8 0 54 3 H.Bhatt 8 1 30 1 H.Mehta 7.4 0 34 2 M.Overall 4 0 31 1

Denham Innings
S.Payne b.Kankamange 6
A.Sabherwal Not Out 122
R.Braithwaite b.Noah 16
J.O’Hara b.Cole 30
H.Bhatt b.Manier 11
D.Maynard Not Out 14
Total 220-4 off 40 overs
M.Manier 8 0 29 1 S.Kankamange 6 1 19 1 A.Cole 8 1 36 1 A.Deighton 1 0 20 0 T.Cresswell 8 1 27 0 M.Noah 4 0 46 1 Q.Nadeem 5 0 34 0