A superb century by Charlie Mack (100*), his long awaited maiden ton for the 1st XI, was the highlight of the drawn game away at Mill Hill on Saturday 30 April. Habs captain Ian Harris had no hesitation in opting to bat first after winning the toss and he and Alex Willis (56) shared in an opening partnership of 71 for the first wicket before the latter was bowled by the opposition off spinner, who helped to rein in the scoring rate a little after the drinks interval. Habs lost two further wickets (Harris and Rasakulasuriar) just before lunch, which was taken with the score on 117 for 3. In the afternoon session Habs batted with intent, doubling the total in under twenty overs as Mack took control. He reached three figures with a single to mid-off and a few balls later Harris made a positive, perhaps even slightly generous, declaration on 239 for 6, giving his bowlers plenty of time to try and win the match.
In reply the Mill Hill openers batted sensibly without too many alarms and reached tea with their partnership still intact, but Shaniel Lakhani claimed the first wicket to fall with his first delivery immediately after the interval. Aman Chatterjee (3 for 15) dismissed Ethan Bamber, the opposition danger man, and when the last hour began Mill Hill were four down, still requiring 137 for victory. Harris switched his bowlers around and tried everything he could think of to prise the batsmen out. Hugo Murphy (2 for 2) claimed two dismissals with his off-spin to give us hope, but Mill Hill, with 7 wickets down, survived, batting out the last ten overs without further loss and finishing on 152 for 7 to draw the game, a rare result in school fixtures these days.
Elsewhere, Habs teams dominated this block fixture, winning all the games comfortably, as we did the morning games against Highgate. Nevertheless there were plenty of encouraging individual performances. The U15A openers Vinosh Jegatheesan and Aayush Pindoria both scored half centuries for the second week running, as did Joe Granger for the U13As, while Ali Khan (35* and 5 for 1) turned in a fine all-round display for the U13Bs. There was also a five wicket haul for Jacob Haynes (U12A). However, next weekend’s fixtures against Felsted, Watford and Hitchin promise to be much tougher tests of our ability!