Bessborough Cricket Club

MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 1^st XI 99-1 (11.1 overs)
Alexandra Park 1^st XI 97 all out (39.5 overs
Bessborough won by 9 wickets

MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Southgate 2^nd XI 256-8 (50 overs)
Bessborough 2^nd XI 196-7 (50 overs
Winning draw for Southgate

1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 3^rd XI 121 all out (36.2 overs)
North Middlesex 4^th XI 122-5 (25.3 overs
North Middlesex won by 5 wickets

1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
Hornsey 4^th XI 157 all out (39 overs)
Bessborough 4^th XI 158-8 (49.5 overs
Bessborough won by 2 wickets

Patel gives ‘A-Grade’ performance for Bessborough

Bessborough seamer Neal Patel, 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 unbeaten run to four games, including three wins and a winning draw.

On a boiling hot summer’s day, Bessborough captain Danny Hawes lost his seventh consecutive toss and Alexandra Park’s skipper Derick Cordy elected to bat in ideal conditions. 

Despite conditions working against them, Bessborough bowlers Patel and Ian Barrie were making the ball swing to make life difficult for Alexandra Park’s openers Cordy and Johan Van Der Merwe.

With Barrie struggling with a niggle, captain Hawes switched Patel to the Allotment End and he picked up the first wicket when Van Der Merwe (8) spooned a pull shot straight to Barrie at midwicket.

Patel, who earlier in the week received three A’s in his A-Levels, was now buzzing and in next over did all the work himself as he caught and bowled Alexandra Park’s number 3 Josh De Kock for a duck.

Patel didn’t have to wait long for his third wicket of the afternoon as he had Faaric Sameem (5) caught behind by wicket-keeper Wayne Whitson. Left arm spinner Rohan Karkhanis then got rid of the dangerous Alistair Wilson, who scored 44 when the two sides met a couple of weeks ago, given out LBW without scoring.

Alexandra Park were now in big trouble at 30-4 after 15 overs with the only real resistance coming from opening bat and captain Cordy who mixed powerful drives with a resolute defence.

Just after the drinks break Cordy struck Ramesh Gunalan for three boundaries in an over and for a brief moment it looked like he might be able to single-handedly rescue his side. Sensing the danger, Hawes turned to his strike bowler Barrie who did the job asked of him by getting Cordy (30) to mistime a drive to the Bessborough captain at mid-off.

With the opposition’s danger man back in the pavilion, Gunalan was then brought back into the attack, this time bowling off breaks rather than medium pace, and in partnership with Karkhanis the two spinners put a stranglehold on the Alexandra Park batsmen.

The tail did their best to wag, but wickets continued to fall regularly and Alexandra Park were eventually dismissed for 97 after 39.5 overs. Patel with 4-12 and Karkhanis with 4-28 were the pick of the bowlers.

In reply, Bessborough openers Hawes and Gunalan showed no fear and immediately set about the Alexandra Park bowlers with positive shots to race to 50 in 6 overs.

Following on from a century last week, Gunalan once again showed his class with drives and pull shots straight from the coaching manual, and he was unlucky to be bowled by Munish Grover just one run short of a half-century in a scintillating 25-ball innings.

Hawes (38 not out) again looked assured in attack and solid in defence, demonstrating why he is averaging over 60 in the Middlesex Championship this season

The victory was sealed in emphatic style with a booming six by Elango Thavalinkam to end the game just after 4:30 pm.

The second eleven were left ruing nine dropped catches as they could only bring home a single point for a losing draw at Southgate, ending any lingering promotion hopes.

Southgate took full advantage of Bessborough’s sloppiness to post a commanding total of 256-8 from their 50 overs. Rohan Desai (4-92) and Mitesh Vyas (2-78) can count themselves unlucky not to have better figures, having been let down by their fielders.

Bessborough openers Phil Bush (55) and Adil Parker (53) gave the side a good platform in response, but apart from a nice 38 not out from Ishan Shah, the visitors weren’t able to keep up with the required run rate. Bessborough finished their quota of overs on 196-7.

The 3s were beaten by 5-wickets at home to North Middlesex 4s, a side they had beaten by 8-wickets only a couple of weeks ago.

Bessborough’s top three all got starts, but each of them succumbed in the twenties, and worse was to follow as only two lower order players made it to double-figures. Bessborough were all out for 121 after 36.2 overs.

Change bowler Kibreeth Rameez (3-15) did his best to defend the low score, but North Middlesex comfortably reached their target for the loss of five wickets.

Bessborough 4s won an epic game against league leaders Hornsey, inspired by a fabulous 66-run “last wicket” stand by Tom Newland and Sammy Hawes, two more Bessborough A-Level success stories.

Captain Simon Heaney won the toss and decided to play to his team’s strengths by bowling first, although it was not an easy decision as the searing heat was always going to put extra stresses on the bowlers.

The decision was immediately vindicated as Stephen Kimsey Jr. (2-8) had Hornsey opener Peters caught by Ravi Vyas for 5 in his first over and in his next he bowled the dangerous Niraj Parmar, who scored a half-century against us two weeks ago, for 2 with a beautiful delivery that jagged back on to off-stump.

Majid Abassi then joined the party with the quick wickets of Allen and Marshall, but Bessborough’s excellent start was halted abruptly as young Kimsey somehow managed to break a finger in a totally innocuous incident, while receiving a long throw from the deep.

Stephen was taken to the nearby Whittington hospital and needed an operation later that evening to straighten his finger. Everyone at the club wishes him a speedy recovery.

The loss of one of Bessborough’s main strike bowlers allowed Hornsey’s father-son combination Tom Waine Sr. (76) and Jr. (20) to take advantage of some rather average change bowling.

Hornsey Captain Waine Sr in particular was ruthless with some big sixes, but fortunately he was removed by the rested opening bowler Tom Newland - Hawes taking a very good catch at mid-on – before the runs total was completely out of reach.

Bessborough made fairly quick work of the Hornsey tail-enders to leave them a target of 158 and 53 overs in which to get them. Abassi’s figures of 5-30 would normally be enough for man-of-the-match, but not on this day.

Bessborough’s innings got off to a dreadful start as openers Abassi (9) and Heaney (5) were both bowled cheaply. Middle order batsmen Richard Wilson (27) and Sahil Hathi (24) helped push the total towards respectability, but at 92-8 (effectively 92-9 without the injured Kimsey) defeat seemed inevitable.

However, Newland and Hawes had different ideas and batted with extreme confidence, carefully playing back the straight ones and dispatching anything wayward.

The pair never looked in danger of getting out or displayed any nerves, although the same cannot be said of their on-looking team-mates who were sweating on each ball as the target slowly clicked down run-by-run.

The winning runs were struck by Hawes (26 not out) and the team were quickly on to the pitch to congratulate him and Newland (38 not out) for their heroic efforts.

The win keeps the 4s in the hunt for promotion with home games against two of their main rivals, Swamibapa and Osterley, coming up in the next couple of weeks.