A spectacular counter-attacking 71 from Taha turned the tables on a topsy-turvy encounter and set up a comfortable victory for the 3s after an obdurate Old Whitgiftians side had earlier threatened to pinch the points.

Coming in at number eight, Taha hammered 13 boundaries – including five enormous sixes – in an outrageous knock that flipped the match on its head and took the game away from the helpless home side.

He later followed up his half-century with a beautiful spell of pace bowling (2-15 from 8 overs) that strangled the beleaguered Whitgiftians’ reply and ensured the home side came up well short in a run chase that never looked likely.

The Roes had earlier slipped to 12-3 after an all too familiar top order collapse that handed the initiative to a determined Old Whitgiftians team trading in experience over youth. Skipper Fahad (29) began the rebuild, sharing a 50 stand with Matt (21) but both fell either side of the drinks break to leave us teetering at 95-6 on a friendly batting wicket where 200-plus had previously been touted as a par score.

Enter Taha. Swinging from ball one, he found the sweet spot time and again, bludgeoning the hapless Whitgiftian spinners for six after six in an imperious parade of power hitting. Manning the scoreboard, poor Alex could barely keep up as the total raced up to 120 in the blink of an eye before an unfortunate run-out brought Zain’s innings - an important supporting hand of 31 - to an end a few overs too soon.

Taha meanwhile showed no signs of slowing down and with further support from Umer (27) and Sadeed (10), our wagging tail carried the score from 129-7 at 29 overs past 150, 180 and 200 before our star man eventually decided enough was enough – all out for 232.

With momentum on our side, the Roes knew a tight opening spell backed up by a professional performance in the field would likely be enough to push the run rate beyond a limited Whitgiftians side. And the boys duly delivered, restricting the home side to just 47-1 at the halfway stage – Taha brimming with confidence, with Umer (1-26), Sadeed (1-23) and skipper Fahad (1-23) backing up our man of the match with tidy spells.

After the game had swung both ways during the first 60 overs, the final 20 petered out as the run chase became an impossible task for the Whitgiftians. Regular wickets punctured the chase with Alex picking up 1-30 and Adain (0-22) deserving of a better reward for a threatening three-over spell.

Job done for the 3s then – and a result that lifts us into the upper reaches of the division and still well in the hunt for promotion. But let’s remember that this victory would not have been possible without Umer’s half-time samosa snack break and Ravi’s dutiful obedience to Croydon’s 20mph speed limits.