Summary

We did very well to bowl Black Rose out for 164 thanks to some tight bowling and brilliant catching and it looked like we had it in the bag at teatime. But in our chase we lost wickets too quickly and, despite a fluent 64 from Ben Stockton to complement his brilliant bowling and fielding, ended up about 20 runs short. Still, it was a good tight match and cricket was the winner (or whichever other cliche you want to use).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We came up agonisingly short in our latest outing in the Middlesex and Essex Invitational League match against one of our oldest of adversaries in Black Rose of Highgate on Sunday on a return to a windswept Alexandra Park. Tight bowling, spearheaded by young Stockton (4-fer) and supported by Timbadia (3 wickets), Webley (1), Davis, Chasseaud (1) and Smith (1), was allied to a superior catching and fielding performance, incl marvels from that man Stockton and the captain Chasseaud, and a one-handed gem from Burnham. Ben Stockton held on to a Patel-marmelised cherry while following through the crease to the total bewilderment of Gourav and amazement of his teammates. So incredulous it felt like a CGI shot by some Japanese whizzkid from the Ghibli Studios. Toby also took a spiralling catch over his head in the swirling gusts. 165 to Black Rose.

After the interval we quickly found ourselves four down for not many, foiled by tight bowling from the spin openers Mishra and Shaheed – good bowling and even better appealing. Webley and Chasseaud started the rebuild, which was continued by himself and Burnham once Web was pearolled by the indeterminate bounce of the enigmatic AP strip. Burnham applied himself studiously, curbing his enthusiasm for willow flourish, making sure he neutered the turn, while Toby showed a "thou shalt not pass" determination in the rebuild, and, once joined by Stockton, in an attempt to snatch a now improbable victory. They say the young play without fear and Ben showed scant regard for reputation, swatting captain Mishra over his head for six, depositing the talented little fella Mahroof for maximus into the AP foliage. A stunning victory, our first over our historic rival in six years, was within touching distance, but evanesced away into the balmy evening first as Chasseaud was pinned in front. Joined by Timbadia, Stockton continued his assault, but Mishra returned to bowl our Ben as he went on one last dance down the wicket, while a pumped-up Gourav bowled fast and straight to clean us up.

Cricket can be painful at times, and you'd say we deserved more on a day when the Ocean's Eleven put in maximum effort to savour a first win over the Rose since 2010. But, as Andy Murray pointed out after his third grand slam victory at Wimbledon yesterday, "the wins feel special after the tough losses". We've got a chance to wilt the rose and enjoy a special win in two weeks' time at Highgate Woods. Let's do it.