Bessborough Cricket Club News story


Patel gives A-Grade performance

20 Aug 2012

PATEL GIVES 'A-GRADE' PERFORMANCE
By James Wheeler


Seamer Neal Patel (above), fresh from outstanding A-Level results, helped the first eleven continue their excellent form by thrashing Alexandra Park by 9 wickets in their final home game of the season at Headstone Manor Park on Saturday. The result stretches the first team’s run to 4 games without defeat which includes 3 wins and a winning draw.

On a boiling hut summer’s day at Headstone Manor, Borough captain Danny Hawes lost his 7th consecutive toss and Alexandra Park won the toss and elected to bat.  In ideal batting conditions, Ian Barrie and Neal Patel tested the Alexandra Park openers Cordy and Van Der Merwe with some excellent swing bowling but even though they were giving very little away they couldn’t take the opening wicket.

With Barrie struggling with a niggle, captain Hawes cleverly switched Neal Patel to the Allotment End and he picked up the first wicket when Van Der Merwe spooned a pull shot straight to Ian Barrie at midwicket. Patel who got three A’s in his A-Levels on Thursday was buzzing and he picked up the wicket of Alexandra Park’s number 3 Josh De Kock caught and bowled in the next over for a duck.

Patel was now bowling in tandem with left arm spinner Rohan Karkhanis and the pair continued to build more pressure on the Alexandra Park batsman. Karkhanis has been in excellent form this season with 24 wickets and he continued to bowl with guile and flight and gave the batsman nothing to hit. However, it was the excellent Patel who picked up the third wicket having Sameem caught behind by Wayne Whitson.

Alexandra Park were now in big trouble at 30-4 after 15 overs and there batsman looked unsure whether to bat themselves out of trouble or hit themselves out. Alexandra Park’s number 5 Alistair Wilson struck 44 when the sides met 2 weeks earlier was the next man to fall as he was bamboozled by Karkhanis and given out LBW for a duck.

The only real resistance had come from opening bat and captain Derick Cordy who mixed powerful drives with a resolute defence. Just after the drinks break he struck Ramesh Gunalan for 3 boundaries in an over and he began to look like he was getting into some form. Hawes immediately responded bringing back strike bowler Ian Barrie who dismissed Cordy soon after when he mistimed a drive and was caught brilliantly by the captain Hawes at mid-off.

Gunalan was then brought back into the attack, this time bowling his off breaks rather than his medium pace and along with Karkhanis they continued to put a stranglehold of the Alexandra Park line up. Even though the tail wagged, we continued to pick up wickets and when Gunalan picked up the wicket of Ben Boccabella for a grafting 22 it was a case of wrapping up the tail.

Eventually we finished off Alexandra Park in the 40th over when Rohan Karkhanis picked up his fourth wicket dismissing our visitors for 97. The pick of the bowlers were Neal Patel who finished with 4-14 and Karkhanis with 4-28.

To say we started our innings positively would be an understatement as our opening batsman Hawes and especially Gunalan set about our reply. The pair both started playing positive shots and took Alexandra Park bowling attack apart. Captain Danny Hawes looked solid once more in defence and assured in attack and he showed why he is averaging 63 in the league on Saturday.

We raced to 50 in 6 overs with the pair being particulary savage on Dan Palmer who was hit for 38 in his 3 overs. Gunalan showed his class with drives and pull shots straight from the MCC coaching manual. He was eventually bowled by Grover one short of a brilliant 50 which came off only 25 balls. New batsman Elango Thavalinkam blocked his first ball before hitting his second ball for 6 and giving Bessborough a 9 wicket win in only 11.1 overs with the game finishing at 4.33pm.

Next week our first eleven travel to Greenford to take on Birbeck College.