WEEKEND REVIEW - JULY 21
By Simon Heaney
Saturday 21 July 2012
MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 1st XI 118 all out (51.5 overs)
Old Actonians 1st XI 121-5 (42 overs)
Old Actonians won by 5 wickets
MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Ickenham 2nd XI 136 all out (44.2 overs)
Bessborough 2nd XI 147 all out (52.5 overs)
Bessborough won by 11 runs
1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 3rd XI 177-7 dec (48 overs)
Wembley 4th XI 92-6 (48 overs)
Winning draw for Bessborough
1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
Wembley 5th XI 44-5 (11.4 overs)
Bessborough 4th XI 40 all out (19 overs)
Wembley won by 5 wickets
Old Actonians Pile on the misery
Bessborough slumped to a disappointing 5-wicket defeat at home to Old Actonians on Saturday (21 July).
Batting first on slow damp wicket Captain Danny Hawes and Ramesh Gunalan made a cautious start with runs coming at a premium. Having battled through seven overs, Gunalan was caught behind by wicket-keeper Jack Aspden off the bowling of Scott Ensom for 6.
That wicket brought in Tharshan Kanagaraj (21), making his first-team debut after a series of fine performances in the second eleven. His introduction saw the run-rate click up a gear and Bessborough looked in good shape as he and Hawes put on 31 for the second wicket.
That blossoming partnership was ended when Hawes was adjudged lbw to Ensom for 25. Number four Andy Carr (4) was soon back in the clubhouse when he was caught off a high full-toss from Craig Nel (1-8).
Tharshan (21) and William Grogan (4) scratched a few more runs before the introduction of Clifford Pile (6-30) into the attack proved to be a killer blow as the canny spinner ripped through the Bessborough middle order.
Pile’s devastating spell included a sequence of six overs when he claimed four wickets for just one run. From 53-3, five Bessborough wickets fell for only 20 runs to leave the hosts teetering on 73-8. Thankfully, Bessborough’s tail wagged with a valuable 31-run ninth-wicket partnership between Sanil Shah (16) and Richard Edmands (18), while Edmands and Jay Chavda (1 not out) added another 14 to set a target of 119.
Bessborough managed to keep Old Actonians honest with some tight bowling, but the result was never really in doubt. The visitors finished on 121-5 from 42 overs. Rohan Karkhanis once again put in a long stint for the side, bowling a non-stop 20-over spell, bagging 4-51.
The 2s continued their good run of form and late promotion charge with a close 11-run victory at Ickenham. The star of the show was Mark Emanuel, making his first start for the team following promotion from the 3s. What was surprising was that Emanuel did his best work with the ball rather the bat, the main reason for his elevation.
After scoring 157 all out in their innings, in which Ezaz Mohammed (27) and Adil Parker (26) top-scored, Bessborough were staring defeat firmly in the face as Ickenham’s number two and three batsmen Tim Budd (29) and Peter Cook (33) were handling the bowling and sticky conditions comfortably.
Things changed dramatically when Captain Phil Bush threw the ball to his new charge Emanuel, who rewarded him with a brilliant 11-over spell of spin bowling that completely bamboozled the opposition with remarkable degrees of turn.
Only Paul Waller (34) seemed to have any idea of how to play Emanuel, but the inability of any of his team-mates to stick with him lead to Ickenham’s eventual demise. Emanuel finished with figures of 7-30, while Mohammed got the rest with 3-22.
The victory puts the 2s up to fourth place in the Middlesex County Cricket League Division 3 on 45 points, 15 behind second-place Wembley, the team occupying the last promotion spot.
The 3s picked up 4 points in a winning draw at home to Wembley 4s. The visitors won the toss and put Bessborough in to bat. That decision looked very sound as Bessborough were in deep trouble at 58-7.
However, a wonderful 119-run eighth-wicket partnership between Captain Sothy Sothynathan (68 not out) and Nandesh Patel (48no) dragged Bessborough back from the brink and allowed them to declare with a competitive 177-7. M. Shah (4-67) and Stephen Murphy (3-40) were the Wembley wicket takers.
Bessborough managed to eke out six Wembley wickets, but with victory impossible the opposition blocked out for the losing draw point, finishing on 92-6 from 48 overs. Patel followed up his fine batting performance with 2-23, while Theepan (2-24), Tanushan Mahendran (1-6) and Tom Newland (1-13) shared the other wickets.
The 4s had a (very brief) day to forget away to Wembley 5s. Bessborough collapsed to 40 all out and despite a spirited display in the field, Wembley coasted to a five-wicket victory. Youngsters Oscar Farr (2-6) and Dillon Popat (2-12) once again showed their potential with a couple of wickets each.