Friday
40 Overs vs NS Avengers CC - Batting first, our lineup who had struggled for runs so far this season got back into form with all of our top 5 making scores. Fenil Patel top scored with 67 off 71, combining for an opening partnership of 67 with Arslan Khan (26 off 20) and second wicket partnership of 75 with Antony Roche (54 off 52). Daksh Talwar (65 off 54) and Rudy Audikesavalu (30*of 33) put on a further 64 for the 4th wicket, and we ended up posting our clubs highest ever score of 6/286 off the 40. Was also great to see us bat the overs out so comfortably.
Fenil (2/25 off 3) continued his great game taking the first 2 wickets. Sagar Mandhan would be our chief destroyer with 3/37 off his 8, and Jawad Naimat (2/11 off 2) too a pair of poles late. Avengers never looked close as the fell 113 runs short of our total, all out for 173 off 31.4 overs. A convincing win to start our 40 over title defense. Scorecard
Saturday
Division 3 vs East Coast CC - We won the toss and elected to bat. Grant Whitcombe (47 off 41) and Glen Hook (35 off 28) combined for a 68 run second wicket partnership, reviving memories of years ago. Playing his first game for a couple of years, Glen showed what an asset he can be to our batting depth, before he was controversially run out. Ahsan Hafeez (19 off 13) and Amjad Raza (14 off 11) gave our score a boost at the end to finish at 7/145 off 20, easily our best batting effort of the year.
Our defense of the target started well, Anbarasu Vijayan and Tommy Upton conceding only 27 runs in the power play with Tommy picking up a wicket. Rookie quick Sheunopa Nelson (2/35 off 3.1) showed his promise with a couple of wickets, but East Coast's 3rd and 4th wicket pairs got their chase back on track. Newly appointed VC Ravi Kiran Revu (2/31 off 4) picked up a couple of quick wickets in the 19th over, but it would prove to be too little, too late, as they passed our score with 4 wickets and 5 balls remaining. Scorecard
Sunday
Division 2 vs East Coast CC - Electing to bowl firs, our bowlers kept things tight but struggled to break through, just the solitary run out as ECCC reached 1/100 after 15. Skipper Priyank trivedi (2/21 off 3), new recruit Arif Hussen (2/26 off 4) and Ajay Kumar (1/19 off 4) did a great job restricting the scoring in the last 5 as ECCC posted 7/130 off their 20.
Arslan Khan (34 off 43) and Karanbir Singh (27 off 30) put up 57 for the 2nd wicket, guiding us to an equation of 59 runs off 51 balls just before Karanbir's dismissal. We fell in a heap from here though, losing our last 9 wickets for just 34 runs to lose by 24. Scorecard
Monday
Division 2 vs NS Avengers CC - Seeking our first win of the season, we batted first upon winning the toss. Both openers departed early, upon which Hiren Patel (30 off 36) and Tushar Sehgal (22 off 17) rebuilt our innings with a 48 run stand. Jawad Naimat (29 off 28) and Saravana Chandran (10* off 12) finished well in tough hitting conditions at Don Bayers to allow us to post a defendable 6/127.
Arif Hussen (2/16 off 4) and Revant Sharan (1/23 off 4) bowled very tight spells up front as Avengers crawled to 2/31 off 7. The Avengers middle order tried to push the scoring, but the leg spin of Nihar Shah (4/22 off 3.2) would prove to difficult to overcome, turning away from the tempting shorter leg side boundary. Fellow spinners Hiren 1/28 off 4) and Kevin Tuvar (1/16 off 3) maintained the pressure as Avengers dropped to 7/55 after 11. Their lower order fought back, before Arif's second wicket in the penultimate over left them 9 down with 7 required off the last over. The leg spin of Nihar was chosen for this challenge, and he delivered, inducing a stumping off the second ball to seal a 6 run win to get ou season back on track. Scorecard
Top Performers
- Fenil Patel 67 off 71 (40 Overs)
- Daksh Talwar 65 off 54 (40 Overs)
- Antony Roche 54 off 52 (40 Overs)
- Grant Whitcombe 47 off 41 (Div 3)
- Glen Hook 35 off 28 (Div 3)
- Nihar Shah 4/22 off 3.2 (Div 2)
- Sagar Mandhan 3/37 off 8 (40 Overs)
- Saravana Chandran 4 dismissals (2 ct, 2 st) (Div 2)