WEEKEND REVIEW - JUNE 1
By Simon Heaney
Saturday 1 June 2013
MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 1st XI 145-6 (41.1 overs)
S.K.L.P 1st XI 142 all out (49.4 overs)
Bessborough won by 4 wickets
MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Southgate 2nd XI 235-4 dec (48 overs)
Bessborough 2nd XI 113 all out (38.4 overs)
Southgate won by 122 runs
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 3rd XI 198 all out (47 overs)
Southgate 3rd 111-9 (46 overs)
Winning draw for Bessborough
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
North Middlesex 5th XI 199 all out (45 overs)
Bessborough 4th XI 123 all out (36 overs)
North Middlesex won by 76 runs
Haniff shines as Bessborough win
Stand-out performances with the ball by overseas player Alexander Haniff (pictured) and Jay Chavda set up Bessborough for their first Middlesex Championship win of the season at home to newly-promoted S.K.L.P .
After three draws, Bessborough were desperate to pick up the maximum 10 points at their Headstone Manor home ground on Saturday and stop runaway leaders Crouch End from disappearing out of sight.
Despite being in great form with the bat after his unbeaten 145 last week, Captain Danny Hawes resisted the urge to pad up, opting to bowl first after winning the toss.
That decision was vindicated as in a near flawless opening spell Chavda bowled Rajesh Vekaria (8) in his second over and in his next removed Roheet Pindoria (2) thanks to a sharp catch by Rohan Karkhanis, giving a glimpse of what was even better to come.
Anup Kerai (22) and Rashil Bhanderi (52) slowly rebuilt S.K.L.P’s innings, adding 33 runs, before first-change bowler Talha Junaid (1-26) dislodged Kerai thanks to a catch by the fit again Andy Carr.
Bhanderi and Subi Visram (31) were going along nicely in the middle overs and got the S.K.L.P innings up to 124 when Karkhanis produced a moment of magic that swung the game decisively in Bessborough’s favour.
Visram drilled a shot from Haniff towards mid-wicket only for Karkhanis to dive full-length and pluck the ball one-handed over his head.
That piece of fielding brilliance seemed to rattle the opposition as it sparked a dramatic batting collapse with S.K.L.P losing the next six wickets for only 18 runs. Haniff ended with figures of 4-18 from 11 overs, while Chavda came back on to grab the last two wickets and finish with an equally impressive 4-25 from 10.4 overs.
Chasing 143 for the win, Hawes and Wayne Whitson added 33 when the latter was bowled by Rajni Hirani for 27. Hawes soon followed for 11, Hirani again claiming the scalp, and when the same bowler removed Tharshan Kanagaraj for 4, Bessborough were in need of a calm presence at the crease.
Fortunately, man-of-the-match Haniff was more than up to the task as he moved the ball around for a steady 98-ball 55 not out. Junaid made sure the run-rate ticked over with a typically hard-hitting run-a-ball 30.
Despite the loss of three wickets in quick succession, the serene Haniff and Sanil Shah (9 not out) saw Bessborough home with four wickets left in the hutch.
The win sees Bessborough move up to fourth place in Division 1 of the Middlesex Championship, some 21 points behind the leaders Crouch End, who have a 100% record. The two sides will face each other in a crucial match at Bessborough on 15 June.
Bessborough’s second eleven were well beaten away to Southgate, losing by 122 runs. Despite losing a couple of early wickets, centuries for Southgate’s Patrick Robinson (106 not out) and Adeel Saeed (100) helped them to an imposing 235-4 declared.
Bessborough were on the ropes from the get go and were staring down the barrel at 48-5. Only a brisk 36 from Ezaz Mohammed, almost exclusively from boundaries, helped Bessborough past 100. They were eventually cleaned out for 113 after 38.4 overs.
For the second time this season the third eleven couldn’t grab the last wicket for victory and so had to settle for a winning draw and four league points at home to Southgate.
Bessborough scored 198 all out with Cecil Dinesh hitting a fine 59 at the top of the order, followed by very useful contributions from Ray Maloney (37), Akilan Denesh (28) and Vivek Patel (26).
Penetrating bowling from Denesh (4-40) wasn’t quite enough to get the win as Southgate held on at 111-9. Tharmakulasingam Kirushanth (2-10) and Dillon Popat (2-34) each grabbed a couple of wickets.
The fourth eleven performed well with the ball, but let themselves down again with the bat as they succumbed to North Middlesex by 76 runs.
Bowling first, Bessborough made early inroads when Ravi Vyas (1-53) trapped North Middlesex skipper Sunil Krishnan lbw for 1, while William Gill (3-52) bowled the home side’s other opener Mark Glazebrook for a duck.
North Middlesex were thankful for well-crafted innings by two of their talented youngsters, number three Hugo Thomas (69) and later Hugh Teesdale coming in at number eight with 42. They finished on 199 all out with Tom Newland getting the best figures of 3-24, while Dominic Baxter showed some good pace to pick up 2-28.
For the second week running, Bessborough gave away silly early wickets to all but dispel any hope of victory. Sahil Hathi (17) and Praekash Balendra (16) were the only batsmen to show anything like their potential. Thanks to 47 extras, Bessborough were able to at least post a vaguely respectable score of 123.