Saturday 15 June 2013

MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 1^st XI 117-7 (55 overs)
Crouch End 1^st XI 61-6 (13 overs)
Match Abandoned

MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Bessborough 2^nd XI 64-5 (26.2 overs)
North London 2^nd XI
Match Abandoned

MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Teddington 4^th XI 179-7 (49 overs)
Bessborough 3^rd XI 158-9 (19 overs)
Match Abandoned

FRIENDLY

Wealdstone Corinthians 145-9 (35 overs)

Bessborough 4^th XI 92 all out (34.5 overs)

Wealdstone Corinthians won by 57 runs

Sunday 16 June 2013

CHESS VALLEY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Welwyn Garden City 1^st XI 111 all out (23.2 overs)
Bessborough 1^st XI 114-1 (22.5 overs)
Bessborough won by 5 wickets

RAIN RUINS BOROUGH WEEKEND

Last Saturday’s appalling weather, meant that while play was possible for all four Bessborough sides, the rain washed out all three League games with the only game being completed was the fourth eleven’s defeat at Wealdstone Corinthians.

Bessborough First Eleven maintained their unbeaten start to the season as they shared a point with Crouch End in a rain hit match at Headstone Manor.

Having lost the toss and being asked to bat first, Bessborough started well as captain Danny Hawes (38) and his opening partner Tharshan Kanagajaraj (24) set about getting after the Crouch End attack. However, when the rain came, there was some confusion surrounded the new playing conditions as 32 overs were lost. The players got back on and wickets were lost at regular intervals and Bessborough finished with a hard fought 117-7 off their 55 overs with Crouch End receiving 13 overs to chase the total.

Crouch End never threatened as Bessborough produced a superb bowling and fielding display to restrict the visitors to 61-6, Rohan Karkhanis and Jay Chavda taking three wickets. The poor weather meant that not enough overs were bowled to Crouch End so both sides were awarded 1 point. This meant Bessborough travel down Pinner View for the local derby with Old Lyonians in good spirits following a plucky display.

The weather proved the saviour for the Bessborough Second Eleven as their game at North London was abandoned 26 overs with the side struggling at 64-5. Captain Phil Bush lost the toss and his side struggled on a pitch that offered assistance to the seamers, they host Kenton next week as they bid to kick-start their season.

Bessborough Third Eleven’s game with Teddington was also abandoned as a draw but it proved to be the most entertaining game of the weekend. Teddington had first use of the wicket and scored what looked a very competitive 179-7 off their 50 overs. Young leg-spinner Dillon Maloney was the pick of the Bessborough bowlers picking up 4-43 from his 17 overs. In reply a fast start by openers Priyatharshan Sathananthan and Cecil Dinesh who both scored 46 gave Bessborough the start they needed to try and force victory, but with conditions worsening, wickets began to fall. The weather forced Bessborough’s run chase to end on 158-8 off 19 overs, an agonising 1 over short of being a valid match which would have seen Bessborough claim the winning draw.

The Fourth Eleven, who were without a League game this weekend lost to Wealdstone Corinthians. The Corinthians, were playing a Bessborough side for the third time this year, batted first scoring 145-9 off their 35 overs. Bessborough 4s in their reply ended up well short, being bowled out for 92 in the final over their innings.

Bessborough’s Sunday side under the captaincy of Nirav Ghantiwala made it two wins out of two with a crushing 9 wicket win over Welwyn Garden City on Sunday. After inserting Welwyn, Bessborough made short work of their opponents bowling out their opponents for only 111. Fast Bowler Rohan Desai 5-37 and spinner Mark Emanuel 3-15 were the pick of the bowlers. Bessborough chased down the target in just over 22 overs thanks to and unbeaten 107 run partnership between James Wheeler (55 not out) and Kibreeth Rameez (36 not out).

Saturday 8 June 2013

MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Perivale Phoenicians 1^st XI 192-9 (55 overs)
Bessborough 1^st XI 168-8 (46 overs)
Winning draw for Bessborough

MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Bessborough 2^nd XI 141 all out (49.3 overs)
Ickenham 2^nd XI 145-5 (39.5overs)
Ickenham won by 5 wickets

MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Enfield 3^rd 110-2 (30 overs)
Bessborough 3^rd XI 109 all out (26.2 overs)
Enfield won by 8 wickets

MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
Bessborough 4^th XI 200-6 (35.4 overs)
Southgate 4^th XI 196-5 dec (46 overs)
Bessborough won by 4 wickets

Sunday 9 June 2013

CHESS VALLEY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Bessborough 1^st XI 249-5 (40.3 overs)
Brondesbury CC - Casuals XI 248-8 (45 overs)
Bessborough won by 5 wickets

Bessborough forced to settle for winning draw

Bessborough had to settle for four points and a winning draw away to Perivale Phoenicians on Saturday in a game they will feel that they should have won.

Despite only having one seamer at his disposal, Captain Danny Hawes chose to bowl first after winning the toss. Teenager Talha Junaid (3-18) stepped up to bowl a fantastic opening spell of swing bowling and was rewarded with the wickets of Perivale openers, Raam Joshi (3) and R. R. Khan (19).

Overseas spinner Alexander Haniff then took the vital wicket of Avinash Murthy (14) thanks to a sharp catch behind the stumps by Adil Parker.

Chairman Nitin Modha (3-74) replaced Junaid and after being hit for 10 runs of his first two balls, the veteran spinner bowled R. Khan (18) with his arm ball. At the other end, Rohan Karkhanis (2-33) was proving to be almost unplayable, although the inconsistent bounce made life very difficult for Parker behind the stumps.

Some sloppy fielding and four dropped catches let Perivale off the hook to set a decent target of 192-9 after the full 55 overs.

Bessborough made a steady start to the run chase, but lost some impetus when Parker (9) was out to a sharp catch at short extra cover. Hawes (73) and Haniff continued the fight on an increasingly difficult pitch and despite the slow progress they were on course for the win, but an untimely loss of concentration from Haniff on 120-1 got him stumped for 43.

With wickets in hand Bessborough should have gone on to win, but with the pitch deteriorating rapidly wickets fell in quick succession and the innings ended with the visitors on 168-8.

The result leaves Bessborough unbeaten in the Middlesex Championship in fourth place with a crunch game against table-toppers Crouch End coming up next week.

Bessborough’s second eleven lost by five wickets at home to Ickenham. Alex Irani scored his second half-century of the season with 51, but not enough other Bessborough batsmen made contributions as the home side were all out for 141.

In reply, Ickenham lost five wickets on their way to 145 from 39.5 overs. Rohan Desai (2-34) and Mark Emanuel (2-38) were the pick of the Bessborough bowlers.

The third eleven were brushed aside by Enfield, losing by 8 wickets.

The fourth eleven secured 10 points with a great win over Southgate. The away side batted well against an under-strength Bessborough attack, declaring on 196-5 after 46 overs.

Despite losing both openers for ducks, Bessborough’s usually fragile batting line-up showed they have learned some lessons from recent collapses with a stirring fight back led by Sahil Hathi, who hit a swashbuckling 65, and an unbeaten 47 from Richard Willson. In the end Bessborough had overs to spare as they scored 200 from only 35 overs.

On Sunday, Bessborough won their opening match of the Chess Valley League campaign with a five-wicket home victory over Brondesbury Casuals.

WEEKEND REVIEW
By Simon Heaney

Saturday 1 June 2013

MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 1^st XI 145-6 (41.1 overs)
S.K.L.P 1^st XI 142 all out (49.4 overs)
Bessborough won by 4 wickets

MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Southgate 2^nd XI 235-4 dec (48 overs)
Bessborough 2^nd XI 113 all out (38.4 overs)
Southgate won by 122 runs

MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 3^rd XI 198 all out (47 overs)
Southgate 3^rd 111-9 (46 overs)
Winning draw for Bessborough

MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
North Middlesex 5^th XI 199 all out (45 overs)
Bessborough 4^th XI 123 all out (36 overs)
North Middlesex won by 76 runs

Haniff shines as Bessborough win

Stand-out performances with the ball by overseas player Alexander Haniff (pictured) and Jay Chavda set up Bessborough for their first Middlesex Championship win of the season at home to newly-promoted S.K.L.P .

After three draws, Bessborough were desperate to pick up the maximum 10 points at their Headstone Manor home ground on Saturday and stop runaway leaders Crouch End from disappearing out of sight.

Despite being in great form with the bat after his unbeaten 145 last week, Captain Danny Hawes resisted the urge to pad up, opting to bowl first after winning the toss.

That decision was vindicated as in a near flawless opening spell Chavda bowled Rajesh Vekaria (8) in his second over and in his next removed Roheet Pindoria (2) thanks to a sharp catch by Rohan Karkhanis, giving a glimpse of what was even better to come.

Anup Kerai (22) and Rashil Bhanderi (52) slowly rebuilt S.K.L.P’s innings, adding 33 runs, before first-change bowler Talha Junaid (1-26) dislodged Kerai thanks to a catch by the fit again Andy Carr.

Bhanderi and Subi Visram (31) were going along nicely in the middle overs and got the S.K.L.P innings up to 124 when Karkhanis produced a moment of magic that swung the game decisively in Bessborough’s favour.

Visram drilled a shot from Haniff towards mid-wicket only for Karkhanis to dive full-length and pluck the ball one-handed over his head.

That piece of fielding brilliance seemed to rattle the opposition as it sparked a dramatic batting collapse with S.K.L.P losing the next six wickets for only 18 runs. Haniff ended with figures of 4-18 from 11 overs, while Chavda came back on to grab the last two wickets and finish with an equally impressive 4-25 from 10.4 overs.

Chasing 143 for the win, Hawes and Wayne Whitson added 33 when the latter was bowled by Rajni Hirani for 27. Hawes soon followed for 11, Hirani again claiming the scalp, and when the same bowler removed Tharshan Kanagaraj for 4, Bessborough were in need of a calm presence at the crease.

Fortunately, man-of-the-match Haniff was more than up to the task as he moved the ball around for a steady 98-ball 55 not out. Junaid made sure the run-rate ticked over with a typically hard-hitting run-a-ball 30.

Despite the loss of three wickets in quick succession, the serene Haniff and Sanil Shah (9 not out) saw Bessborough home with four wickets left in the hutch.

The win sees Bessborough move up to fourth place in Division 1 of the Middlesex Championship, some 21 points behind the leaders Crouch End, who have a 100% record. The two sides will face each other in a crucial match at Bessborough on 15 June.

Bessborough’s second eleven were well beaten away to Southgate, losing by 122 runs.  Despite losing a couple of early wickets, centuries for Southgate’s Patrick Robinson (106 not out) and Adeel Saeed (100) helped them to an imposing 235-4 declared.

Bessborough were on the ropes from the get go and were staring down the barrel at 48-5. Only a brisk 36 from Ezaz Mohammed, almost exclusively from boundaries, helped Bessborough past 100. They were eventually cleaned out for 113 after 38.4 overs.

For the second time this season the third eleven couldn’t grab the last wicket for victory and so had to settle for a winning draw and four league points at home to Southgate.

Bessborough scored 198 all out with Cecil Dinesh hitting a fine 59 at the top of the order, followed by very useful contributions from Ray Maloney (37), Akilan Denesh (28) and Vivek Patel (26).

Penetrating bowling from Denesh (4-40) wasn’t quite enough to get the win as Southgate held on at 111-9. Tharmakulasingam Kirushanth (2-10) and Dillon Popat (2-34) each grabbed a couple of wickets.

The fourth eleven performed well with the ball, but let themselves down again with the bat as they succumbed to North Middlesex by 76 runs.

Bowling first, Bessborough made early inroads when Ravi Vyas (1-53) trapped North Middlesex skipper Sunil Krishnan lbw for 1, while William Gill (3-52) bowled the home side’s other opener Mark Glazebrook for a duck.

North Middlesex were thankful for well-crafted innings by two of their talented youngsters, number three Hugo Thomas (69) and later Hugh Teesdale coming in at number eight with 42. They finished on 199 all out with Tom Newland getting the best figures of 3-24, while Dominic Baxter showed some good pace to pick up 2-28.

For the second week running, Bessborough gave away silly early wickets to all but dispel any hope of victory. Sahil Hathi (17) and Praekash Balendra (16) were the only batsmen to show anything like their potential.  Thanks to 47 extras, Bessborough were able to at least post a vaguely respectable score of 123.

Saturday 25 May 2013

MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Osterley 1^st XI 181-9 (50 overs)
Bessborough 1^st XI 304-3 dec (53 overs)
Winning draw for Bessborough

MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Bessborough 2^nd XI 181-6 (42 overs)
Edmonton 2^nd XI 180-7 (55 overs)
Bessborough won by 4 wickets

MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 3^rd XI 150-6 (46 overs)
Wycombe House 3^rd 208 all out (45.5 overs)
Winning draw for Wycombe House

MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
Perivale Phoenicians 4^th XI 111-1 (27 overs)
Bessborough 4^th XI 110 all out (33.5 overs)
Perivale won by 9 wickets

Sunday 26 May 2013

FRIENDLY
Bessborough 216 all out (39.1 overs)
Sky Sports Active 209-5 (40 overs)
Bessborough won by 7 runs

Bessborough denied victory by last-wicket stand

In-form Bessborough Captain Daniel Hawes posted his highest score for the club with an unbeaten 145, but was denied all 10 points as his side were unable to take Osterley’s last wicket.

Put in to bat by last season’s Middlesex Championship winners Osterley, who not for the first time were denied promotion to the Middlesex County Cricket League due to the standard of their pitches, Bessborough’s opening pair of Hawes and Wayne Whitson made a steady start with Whitson playing some decent strokes straight back over the opening leg spin bowler’s head.

Whitson made 16 before getting out playing the same shot caught at mid-off. Overseas player Alexander Haniff and Hawes put on 64 before Haniff was unfortunate to be bowled off his pad then arm for 24.

Bessborough number three Tharshan Kanagaraj (30) didn't take long to get into his stride with shots all around the ground. He was unlucky to be caught at short fine leg, after middling a sweep shot.

With Hawes still at the crease and with wickets in hand, the fast scoring Talha Junaid entered the fray. He scored an unbeaten 63 in 54 balls, helping to accelerate the run rate.

Hawes and Junaid put on 155 for the fourth wicket as Bessborough declared on 304-3 after 53 overs.

Hawes’ 145 not out came from 163 balls, including 16 fours and five sixes, four of which coming in consecutive balls. As well as being his highest score for Bessborough, it was Hawes’ third ton of the season, the first time any player at the club has achieved that since Ian Barrie scored four centuries in 2008.

Despite the daunting target, Osterley were always going to try to win the game, but were pegged back early on as Nirav Ghantiwala (4-42) bowled both openers cheaply.

Ghantiwala’s strike partner Jay Chavda (0-46) was unlucky to miss out on any wickets as his out-swingers were causing Osterley’s batsman, particularly their number three Ali Taj, all sorts of trouble. Chavda’s opening 8-over spell included four straight maidens.

With Osterley seeming to dislike to ball going away from them, Hawes brought on Junaid (3-25) to bowl his outswing in the thirteenth over. The change paid off soon after as Junaid removed Ali Taj (26) and Rizvi (26) in quick succession.

Wickets then started to fall regularly with Osterley either hitting big shots or getting out. Haniff (1-30) bowled a good containing spell and was unfortunate not to get more wickets with two costly dropped chances of his bowling.

In the end, Osterley last wicket pair of A. Buttar (22 not out) and S. Khan (0 not out) blocked out the last over as they clung on for a losing draw on 181-9 after 50 overs.

Bessborough’s second eleven put aside last week’s disappointment at Enfield with a comfortable victory over table-toppers Edmonton.

Captain Phil Bush won the toss and elected to bowl. His bowlers did a fine job restricting the home side to only 180-7 from 55 overs with Kibreeth Rameez (3-38) and Rishi Patel (2-34) doing most of the damage.

In reply, Bessborough made a nervous start losing three early wickets, but a fine 41 by Nandesh Patel, coming in at number four, and later unbeaten knocks of 48 and 47 by Mitesh Vyas and Rameez respectively, got them over the winning line.

The third eleven grabbed a point from a losing draw at home to Wycombe House. The away side batted first and posted a target of 208 all out with Waazar scoring 102. Fateh Singh exceled with the ball, claiming 4-44, while Akilan Denesh grabbed 3-74 and Captain Nathan Theebaraj took 2-26 in a tidy 10-over spell.

Bessborough’s batsmen struggled to keep up with the run-rate as wickets fell regularly, but held on for the draw at 150-6 after 46 overs.

The fourth eleven had a miserable day away to Perivale Phoenicians, losing by 9-wickets and having three players’ kit bags stolen.

Bessborough were in deep trouble on 36-7, but positive contributions from Gurpreet Singh (27) and Tom Newland (33) helped them to a defendable 110 all out.

In the end, it was nowhere near enough as the Perivale openers Vishal and Harkamal demonstrated how to play safe and accumulate runs, each grabbing half-centuries in a comfortable 9-wicket romp.

On Sunday, Bessborough won an entertaining 40-over friendly versus Sky Sports Active by 7 runs.

Rohan Karkhanis (55), Alex Irani (48) and Tharshan Kanagaraj (36) top-scored for Bessborough as they set a target of 216. Sky Sports’ Hirst put in a great shift of bowling, picking up 5-33 from only 5 overs.

WEEKEND REVIEW
By Simon Heaney

Saturday 11 May 2013

MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Birkbeck College 1^st XI 215-7 dec (52 overs)
Bessborough 1^st XI 158-6 (37 overs)
Winning draw for Bessborough

MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Bessborough 2^nd XI 185-8 dec (48 overs)
Highgate 2^nd XI 89-2 (21.1 overs)
Winning draw for Highgate

MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 3^rd XI 225 all out (44.2 overs)
Old Actonians 3^rd XI 71-9 (25.3 overs)
Winning draw for Bessborough

MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
Old Actonians 4^th XI 227-7 dec (49 overs)
Bessborough 4^th XI 161-8 (53 overs)
Winning draw for Old Actonians

Sunday 12 May 2013

FRIENDLY
Bessborough 154-3 (28 overs)
Perivale Phoenicians 154-5 (40 overs)
Bessborough won by 7 wickets

Four draws for Bessborough

It was Even-Stevens for all four Bessborough sides on a rain-affected opening Saturday of the league campaign. The first and third elevens each secured four points for winning draws, while the second and fourth teams both picked up a point for losing draws.

The first eleven traveled to a wet and windy Birkbeck College and were asked to bowl by their hosts. Nirav Ghantiwala (1-24) made the breakthrough in the sixth over bowling Shahzad for 14, but despite some tight bowling Bessborough had to wait another 10 overs for the next wicket when change bowler Rohan Karkhanis caught and bowled Imran Haider (16) with the score on 63.

Birkbeck's number three Ali Haider was playing aggressively and enjoyed pace on the ball and eventually went on to score an unbeaten 115, although the Bessborough fielders gave him a helping hand by dropping him three times before he reached the century.
 
The other Birkbeck batsmen were largely held in check by the Bessborough bowling unit, particularly the spin duo of Karkhanis (2-32) and Nitin Modha (2-56) during the middle overs.

Birkbeck’s first hundred came at a rate of around 3 runs per over, although Haider picked up the pace after the fall of the fourth wicket with some big hitting. Ian Barrie (2-39) grabbed two late wickets in his second spell, both expertly caught by Sanil Shah, to put the brakes on the opposition, who declared on 215 after 52 overs.

After the tea interval Bessborough started off their innings positively in the knowledge that rain was almost certainly on its way. Captain Danny Hawes (29) and Adil Parker scored freely in an opening stand of 65 with Parker especially keen to get above the required 4.13 run-rate, smashing 49 off 39 balls.

New bat Elango Thavalinkam carried on where Parker left with a 16-ball 21, including two huge sixes, one of which crashed through the window of an adjacent house and interrupted the game as the angry home-owner refused to give the ball back. Talha Junaid added to his growing reputation with a quick-fire 30.

Birkbeck’s bowlers eventually tied down Bessborough’s middle-order with the run rate dropping from 4.67 after 31 overs to a nervy 4.27 after 37, when the inevitable rain arrived and ended Bessborough’s score on 158-6 to give the away side the winning-draw and four valuable league points.

The second eleven were up against Highgate at Headstone Manor with Captain Phil Bush opting to bat first, a decision which apparently surprised their skipper.

Ian Ridley (4) was out to a beauty from Blair Tickner in the third over, which brought in last season’s best new player Mark Emanuel to the crease. He and Bush added 40 with Emanuel at his aggressive best, scoring a quick 30 before being caught at point to a great diving, one-handed catch by Jon Bowley.

Bush and debutant Alexander Haniff pushed the score on to 80 when the captain was bowled by Blair for a stubborn 14.

Haniff was then given a crash introduction to a number of Bessborough batsmen in the middle with three going cheaply before Stephen Kimsey Sr. showed his experience by sticking around while Haniff played superbly to score a century on debut.

After Haniff was bowled for 103 and Kimsey Sr. run out for 13, Bush declared on 188-8 after 48 overs knowing that the inclement weather was likely to restrict the Highgate innings.

Highgate came out after tea knowing they needed to score around 4 runs per over, which they just managed to achieve as they scored 89-2 after 21.1 overs when the heavens opened and ended the contest.

Haniff showed off his all-round talent, bowling unchanged and bagging both wickets in a tidy 10-over spell of 2-38.

The three’s came closest to victory of all Bessborough teams, just one agonising wicket away from claiming all 10 points against Old Actonians.

Bessborough batted first and posted a healthy score of 225 all out from 44.2 overs. Top scorers were Priyatharshan Sathananthan (73), Tharmakulasingam Kirushanth (43) and Vivek Patel (41).

Bessborough were quickly into the Old Actonians line-up with Captain Nathan Theebaraj (2-19) and Akilan Denesh (1-23) getting early wickets. Spinners Kirushanth (3-9) and young colt Dillon Popat (3-12), the latter freshly promoted from the 4s, then ripped through the opposition to leave them teetering on 71-9 when the rain washed away any hope of a Bessborough victory.

Just a few miles up the A40 the fourth eleven’s match away to Old Actonians escaped the bad weather apart from one very light shower. Despite playing with only 10 because of a last-minute cry-off and missing most of last season’s potent bowling attack, a tail-end rear-guard saw Bessborough come home with a creditable losing draw.

Bessborough won the toss and bowled first on a green strip, but couldn’t make the early breakthrough although strike bowlers Ravi Vyas (0-36) and William Gill (1-48) deserved better for their efforts.

First-change seamer Richard Ward grabbed the first wicket as Old Actonians opener John Walker clipped an easy chance off his legs to Captain Simon Heaney. Spinners Bharat Vyas and new colt Roxon Dominic then picked up a couple of quick wickets and when some smart fielding by Ravi Vyas forced a run out, Bessborough were on a roll.

Unfortunately, that momentum was stalled when Heaney dropped a dolly from new batsman Bilal Hussain off Gill’s bowling. Hussain went on to score a half-century as he and Old Actonians’ steady opener Dominic Wallace (78) grabbed back the initiative, allowing Old Actonians to declare on 227-7 after 49 overs.

Bessborough openers Richard Willson and Ward started off brightly with the left-handed Willson clipping some lovely strokes off his legs. Their partnership of 45 was brought to a sudden end when Willson inextricably set of for a single that was never on to run himself out for 23.

That sparked a mini-collapse as Bessborough lost three wickets in quick succession before Ward and Heaney (17) steadied things a bit. When Heaney top-edged to slip Ward continued to play very sensibly on his way to 37. Ward and Bharat Vyas (28) used up more overs, but there were still plenty remaining for the last-wicket pair of Ravi Vyas and Shan Vasudevan to block out.

Despite some probing bowling, the pair dug in for 12 or so overs to see their team home with only a few scares along the way. A special thank you to Shan, who hasn’t played cricket in years and was only helping out as a last-minute substitute for his ill son.