Taylorian 2020

99 dug the side out of trouble with the bat on a number of occasions. Aaryan Sawant has made some good scores this season and shown potential with the ball as an off-spin bowler. Well done to all of the boys, who are a tremendous bunch. Mr M J Penny Squad: R. Thapar, A. Sawant, G. Puri, D. Steven-Jennings, N. Shah, A. Chadha, A. Whiteside, A. Kundi, K. Dhanuka, S. Pankhania, V. Palekar, C. Waddington. U14B This was an excellent end to the season, culminating in a decisive win to secure their place in the sun. The U14Bs used the half-term break to do some warm weather training in Spain, coming back refreshed and ready to go. The first game was played against a good Harrow side in a competitive and exciting match, lost by just 6 runs. This heroic defeat spurred them on to a three-game unbeaten run. First to fall was St Albans, all out for 82, an 8-wicket victory. Second to fall was Magdalen College School. MTS set a huge total of 221/3 courtesy of V. Saluja, B. Kleiner, and A. Popat, each of whom recorded more than 50 runs. Magdalen managed 28 all out. The last to fall was by no means the least: a HABS side that came to the Head Master’s pitch expecting victory. Armaan Popat, a player cementing himself as a firm favourite, hit his second 50 (though not as fast as his 25-ball 50 against Magdalen) to send HABS home. Another 8-wicket victory, and the U14Bs finished the season playing as the side they’d always promised to be. Mr R O Hawkes Squad: Z. Akbar, A. Chadha, K. Bains, A. Bickerstaff, J. Hooles, B. Kleiner, S. Mukherjee, P. Patel, R. Patel, S. Patel, A. Popat, S. Sahni, V. Saluja, A. Sardana, C. Waddington. U14C Fresh from the Feast of St Barnabas, the U14Cs headed for Harrow, where Mansfield’s policy of bowler rotation helped us to stay in the game during Harrow’s first-wicket partnership. At this point, our mid-week training paid dividends, and Marden was able to effect the first of three run-outs. The scoring rate was quickly arrested and the spinners led by Muneer proved especially hard for our hosts to deal with as Harrow declined to 118 all out. After a circumspect start, our middle order took control, and a series of attractive partnerships between Muneer, Haynes and Wang put the team well on top. As is traditional, a mid-innings schism ensued, but Eunice and Marden kept their cool to see us home by three wickets with five overs to spare in a well-contested match. Against St Albans, MTS batted under threatening skies. The innings was built around an 86-run partnership between Rahul Patel and Muneer, but once the latter was dismissed the innings fell away, leaving St Albans with a score that was eminently achievable. St Albans started briskly but three more run outs and some tight bowling saw their chase falter. Aayaan Patel contributed two run outs and Popat took an inspirational catch an inch from the ground. In our final fixture, Haberdashers’ were invited to bat. Initially runs flowed freely, but sharp catching from Vikhil Patel and Aayaan Patel ensured that our hosts were never able to accelerate away. Skilful rotation of the bowling attack limited Haberdashers’ to 105 off 20 overs.