This was a very frustrating game against our old friends/foes. 

Chiggs put us in to bat. Aly Duncan edged one behind from Mr Richard Hannant as his bad luck this season continued.  Toby and the returning (from new parental duties) Aravindan put on a splendid stand of 125+ (is that a batting point alone?) and we had a good platform. After a visibly fatigued Aravindan was run out going for a quick second with Chasseaud, Sumeet and Ben B were given out by Skipper Hussain in controversial circumstances. This may have been a shrewd move, however, as the run rate had slowed a little and it brought ringer Jack Malnick to the crease who smashed 41 off 23, including some huge sixes over the car park (Jack had parked his car behind the pavilion).  Chasseaud completed his second magnificent ton of the season, continuing a rich vein of form in the late-season.  We reached 229 and declared after 45, eager not to lose batting points. In retrospect, arguably we might have batted to 50. 229 never looked likely to be a winning score on this batsman's track. 

The familiar faces of Mr Robert Allum and Mr William McFarlane put on a good opening stand, untroubled by PCC's old-ball opening twirlymen AH and AK.  If memory serves correctly they were going at about 8 an over off the first 10, meaning PCC required a magical spell or unlikely collapse to win it from there.  Malnick bowled a hostile spell of faster stuff but went for quite a few (and quite a few extras) for no reward.  Fellow ringer Saldanha bowled a tidy and economical spell of swing but by then the game looked lost.  Aravindan, having starred with the bat and recovered some energy at tea, bowled well to make Rob an Allumnus of the crease, and to remove star man Mr David Colwill's middle stump, just short of his 50 and having denounced the previous delivery as a "shit ball". 

By the time Stevenson and Kerr came to the crease there was a depressing inevitability to how Chigwell knocked off the runs. We look forward to the return fixture on September 9th, our final game in any league in this season.  Let's hope for a repeat of the glorious scenes of Alexandra Palace, 2016.