WEEKEND REVIEW - JUNE 8-9
By Simon Heaney
Saturday 8 June 2013
MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Perivale Phoenicians 1st XI 192-9 (55 overs)
Bessborough 1st XI 168-8 (46 overs)
Winning draw for Bessborough
MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Bessborough 2nd XI 141 all out (49.3 overs)
Ickenham 2nd XI 145-5 (39.5overs)
Ickenham won by 5 wickets
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Enfield 3rd 110-2 (30 overs)
Bessborough 3rd XI 109 all out (26.2 overs)
Enfield won by 8 wickets
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
Bessborough 4th XI 200-6 (35.4 overs)
Southgate 4th XI 196-5 dec (46 overs)
Bessborough won by 4 wickets
Sunday 9 June 2013
CHESS VALLEY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Bessborough 1st XI 249-5 (40.3 overs)
Brondesbury CC - Casuals XI 248-8 (45 overs)
Bessborough won by 5 wickets
Bessborough forced to settle for winning draw
Bessborough had to settle for four points and a winning draw away to Perivale Phoenicians on Saturday in a game they will feel that they should have won.
Despite only having one seamer at his disposal, Captain Danny Hawes chose to bowl first after winning the toss. Teenager Talha Junaid (3-18) stepped up to bowl a fantastic opening spell of swing bowling and was rewarded with the wickets of Perivale openers, Raam Joshi (3) and R. R. Khan (19).
Overseas spinner Alexander Haniff then took the vital wicket of Avinash Murthy (14) thanks to a sharp catch behind the stumps by Adil Parker.
Chairman Nitin Modha (3-74) replaced Junaid and after being hit for 10 runs of his first two balls, the veteran spinner bowled R. Khan (18) with his arm ball. At the other end, Rohan Karkhanis (2-33) was proving to be almost unplayable, although the inconsistent bounce made life very difficult for Parker behind the stumps.
Some sloppy fielding and four dropped catches let Perivale off the hook to set a decent target of 192-9 after the full 55 overs.
Bessborough made a steady start to the run chase, but lost some impetus when Parker (9) was out to a sharp catch at short extra cover. Hawes (73) and Haniff continued the fight on an increasingly difficult pitch and despite the slow progress they were on course for the win, but an untimely loss of concentration from Haniff on 120-1 got him stumped for 43.
With wickets in hand Bessborough should have gone on to win, but with the pitch deteriorating rapidly wickets fell in quick succession and the innings ended with the visitors on 168-8.
The result leaves Bessborough unbeaten in the Middlesex Championship in fourth place with a crunch game against table-toppers Crouch End coming up next week.
Bessborough’s second eleven lost by five wickets at home to Ickenham. Alex Irani scored his second half-century of the season with 51, but not enough other Bessborough batsmen made contributions as the home side were all out for 141.
In reply, Ickenham lost five wickets on their way to 145 from 39.5 overs. Rohan Desai (2-34) and Mark Emanuel (2-38) were the pick of the Bessborough bowlers.
The third eleven were brushed aside by Enfield, losing by 8 wickets.
The fourth eleven secured 10 points with a great win over Southgate. The away side batted well against an under-strength Bessborough attack, declaring on 196-5 after 46 overs.
Despite losing both openers for ducks, Bessborough’s usually fragile batting line-up showed they have learned some lessons from recent collapses with a stirring fight back led by Sahil Hathi, who hit a swashbuckling 65, and an unbeaten 47 from Richard Willson. In the end Bessborough had overs to spare as they scored 200 from only 35 overs.
On Sunday, Bessborough won their opening match of the Chess Valley League campaign with a five-wicket home victory over Brondesbury Casuals.
Brondesbury set a challenging total of 248, but a fine 91 from Adil Parker and unbeaten lower-order knocks by Kibreeth Rameez (44*) and Rohan Karkhanis (35*) were enough for the win.