SHAH CENTURY BOOKS U17 FINALS DAY PLACE
By Simon Heaney
Bessborough under 17s have booked themselves a place in the Middlesex Colts Association (MCA) County League Championship Finals Day after a quarter-final victory over London Maccabi Vale on Wednesday (15 August).
Bessborough’s stand-in skipper Ashil Shah won the toss and decided to bat first, and both he and fellow opener Saahil Vora immediately set about the Maccabi bowlers with some ferocious shots straight out of the middle of the bat. The pair put on a devastating partnership of 126 runs in 12 overs before Vora was out for 41.
New batsman Talha Junaid joined his captain in the middle and continued the run onslaught with two big sixes in a quick-fire 21. Shah, with a wonderful 116 not out full of exquisite stroke-play, and Kishan Karia (15 not out), batted through the rest of the overs and took the score to a mammoth 222 for 2 wickets in 20 overs.
In reply, Maccabi Vale lost one of their openers in Prasann Sumaria’s (1-16) first over, before a good 59-run second-wicket partnership between Ledimer and Parkins steadied the ship for the opposotion. However, some incisive bowling and tight fielding by the Bessborough boys saw them wipe out Maccabi for 96 runs. Mitesh Vyas was the pick of the bowler with 3-9, while Junaid (2-4), Kibreeth Rameez (1-3), Vivek Patel (1-9) and Harshil Sumaria (0-30) all did their bit too.
The 126-run victory means that Bessborough qualify for the Finals Day at NPL Teddington CC on Bank Holiday Monday (27 August) when both the semi-finals and final will be played, commencing 10am.
The Finals Day will give the team a second-bite at some silverware this season after their narrow defeat to Osterley in the Middlesex Cup Final on Sunday 11 August. Reaching the final of such a prestigous competition in which there were about 45 teams competing was a wonderful achievement by both players and coaches, with notable scalps along the way including Middlesex County Premier League side Winchmore Hill.