WEEKEND REVIEW - SEPTEMBER 1
By Simon Heaney
MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Turnham Green & Polytechnic 1st XI 178 all out (49.3 overs)
Bessborough 1st XI 182-9 (50 over)
Bessborough won by 4 runs
MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Bessborough 2nd XI 54 all out (23.3 overs)
Harrow Town 2nd XI 55-0 (10.3 overs)
Harrow Town won by 10 wickets
1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Teddington 4th XI 244-8 dec (42 overs)
Bessborough 3rd XI 238-7 (45 overs)
Winning draw for Teddington
1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
Bessborough 4th XI 69 all out (25.4 overs)
Osterley 4th XI 263-8 dec (38.2 overs)
Osterley won by 194 runs
Bessborough win last over thriller
Jay Chavda was Bessborough’s hero on Saturday with two wickets in the final over of a nail-biting 4 runs away victory at Turnham Green & Polytechnic.
As Chavda prepared to run up for the last over Turnham Green looked odds on for the win as 18 runs scored in the previous two overs meant the home side needed just five runs to reach the target of 183 with two wickets in hand.
Chavda, promoted from the 2s for this game, created some pressure on the opposition with a dot first ball and with his second delivery induced Naveed Malik (9) to offer a catch to Nirav Ghantiwala, which the Borough man gladly accepted.
With the batsmen crossing, John Sanger (12) decided to go for broke next ball but didn’t get the distance he was looking for and under-17s star Mitesh Vyas took an excellent pressure catch in the deep to seal an epic win.
Earlier, Turnham Green had won the toss and put Bessborough into bat on an exceptionally green and unpredictable strip. Bessborough’s batsmen found conditions tough going with numerous balls shooting along the deck after pitching. Andy Carr top scored with 38 before getting out lbw to a low one, while Tharshan Kanagaraj and Ghantiwala each added useful scores of 27 to help Bessborough to 182 after 50 overs.
Bessborough were able pick up the first three wickets at fairly regular intervals although Turnham Green’s opener Ed Lush (72) was proving to be a stubborn adversary. It was the fall of his wicket (ct Chavda, b Barrie) that brought about a home collapse as the final seven wickets fell for less than 40 runs.
Chavda finished with figures of 3-28, while Barrie (3-57), Ghantiwala (1-19) and Rohan Karkhanis (1-26) all picked up at least one wicket.
The win stretches Bessborough’s unbeaten run to six games (four wins, one winning draw and one abandoned) and means that the side can finish no lower than fourth in their heavily rain-affected debut Middlesex Championship season.
The second eleven had a bad day at the office as they suffered a crushing 10-wicket defeat at home to Harrow Town.
Bessborough were skittled out for only 54 in 23.3 overs, which Harrow Town only needed 10.3 overs to overhaul without losing any wickets.
The 3s were unlucky not to come home with all 10 points at Teddington as they agonisingly fell 7 runs short of the winning target.
The performance was even more impressive considering they played the whole game with only nine players as two members were left stranded en-route after a car breakdown.
Chasing 245 to win, Bessborough’s top four all got scores over 30, but defeat looked on the cards with the team struggling at 174-7. However, a brilliant unbeaten “last-wicket” partnership of 64 by Peter Doole (26 not out) and Nathan Theebaraj (32 not out) very nearly snatched victory at the death.
Bessborough 4s were soundly beaten by a strong looking Osterley fourth eleven. Osterley’s openers Asif (55) and Hadi (99) smashed the ball to all parts of the ground and although Bessborough’s attack managed to stem the flow of runs later in the innings Osterley declared on a daunting 263-8 after 38.2 overs. Dipak Chavda (3-52) and Majid Abassi (3-86) were the leading Bessborough bowlers.
In reply. Bessborough got off the worse possible start by losing two wickets without scoring and wickets continued to fall regularly thereafter as the home side stuttered to 69 all out. Opener Abassi carried his bat for an unbeaten 19.