3s first win of season

Big win on small ground - Broxbourne's picturesque second ground was the scene for the 3s seasonal maiden victory.
Despite a slightly shaky start with Ahsan, Bobbie and Neil all falling to the moving ball, Gregg and Jake cashed in as it stopped moving, taking advantage of the good track and short square boundaries.
Gregg was solidity itself although he hit the first 6 of the nnings with a towering hook - while Jake soon got in on the act pulling short balls and on-driving 'slot' balls for his 8 x 6.
Their partnership was 122, and when Gregg fell LB to the slowest bowler ever, for 68 with 11x4 and 1 x 6, Ed came in and worked it round stylishly, giving Jake ('JK') the bowling as the young Halstead indulged in a bit of pongo. Jake's knock of 122, the 3s first ton since 2015, was a tremendous one, managing to look solid yet ruthless at the same time, clearing the ropes 8 times and losing several balls, and keeping the Halstead name going in club circles.
In no time Ed had accumulated 31 and the partnership was 77 - at 30 overs we were on 129, so quickly doing the 'math', our last 15 overs brought 150 runs, which is approximately 10 per over. Quick cameos from Bipin (six into the canal and out) and Rambo, took us up to 279.
While we knew what Pirton's gun Howard could do, we had plans, and while the openers accumulated slowly, they were always behind the rate. Bipin even had the luxury of dropping a dolly off his own bowling, first ball of the innings - sorry Bips - but Rambo soon got amongst 'em and JK lived up to his all-rounder billing by yorking Howard for single figures.
We could see a long tail looming and Rambo's big turn was too much for most of 'em, and his 9-over spell yielded 4-23 (after a five-for v. the same opposition last year). Neil enhanced his golden-arm rep with a nice three-for, and despite a mildly annoying final wicket rally, Steve came in for a second spell from the other end and re-arranged the big last man's furniture to round off a fabulous and very large win in a top location.
Both sides gathered for a drink on the grass in the early evening sunshine, which was nice to see, before we re-grouped at the Ridge for a few more beers and talked a lot more rubbish! Better availability from now on suggests we have turned the corner!