WEEKEND REVIEW
By Simon Heaney
Saturday 20 July 2013
MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
M.T.S.S.C 1st XI 202 all out (51.4 overs)
Bessborough 1st XI 104 all out (45.1 overs)
M.T.S.S.C. won by 98 runs
MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Bessborough 2nd XI 178-6 (49 overs)
Enfield 2nd XI 237-5 dec (51 overs)
Winning draw for Enfield
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 3rd XI 175 all out (45 overs)
Twickenham 4th XI 151 all out (42.5 overs)
Bessborough won by 24 runs
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
Crouch End 4th XI 128 all out (32.1 overs)
Bessborough 4th XI 79-8 (30.3 overs)
Crouch End won by 49 runs
Sunday 21 July 2013
Friendly
Bessborough 346-6 (40 overs)
Darji 128-8 (25.1 overs)
Bessborough won by 218 runs
Off form Bessborough lose ground on leaders
Bessborough blew a golden opportunity to get themselves back in the promotion mix by losing at leaders M.T.S.S.C., when at one stage they had their hosts on the rack.
Captain Danny Hawes won the toss and opted to take to the field and opening pace bowler Nirav Ghantiwala (2-45) vindicated that decision by removing both M.T.S.S.C openers cheaply.
First change spinner Alexander Haniff (4-48, pictured) took a wicket with his first delivery and another in his second over. When he and spin partner Rohan Karkhanis (1-35) picked off another couple the home side were in disarray at 80-6.
However, the Tamils showed why they are top of the league with some dogged lower order partnerships of 36, 36, 34 and 17 with number seven Ashok Andrew (57 not out) the guiding hand. M.T.S.S.C. were eventually all out for 202 after opening bowler Jay Chavda (2-49) returned to clean up the tail.
Despite losing Tharshan Kanagaraj (4) in the second over, Bessborough were looking comfortable on 55-1 as Hawes and Haniff set about reaching the target.
The game changed when Kavi Kannathasan (3-23) was brought on in the nineteenth over and removed Haniff (20) and Adil Parker (0) in quick succession. When Hawes (32) was caught and bowled by David Devadoss (2-14) soon after the writing was on the wall with Bessborough on 63-4.
Apart from Ghantiwala (25) the rest of the Bessborough batsmen surrendered meekly as they collapsed to 104 all out with the last nine wickets falling for an embarrassing 49 runs.
The defeat drops Bessborough into seventh place in the Middlesex Championship, 20 points behind leaders M.T.S.S.C. Next up is a crucial home game versus second-placed Osterley.
The second eleven ended a four-game losing streak in the Middlesex County Cricket League Division 3 with a creditable losing draw against promotion chasing Enfield.
Fielding a makeshift side with a few players plucked from the threes and fours as well as a rare outing for groundsman Lawrence Horsley, Bessborough did well to restrict Enfield to 237-5 declared after 51 overs. Colt and regular third team spinner Dillon Maloney (2-38) performed well, as did fellow spinner Mitesh Vyas (2-40).
In reply, all of Bessborough’s batsmen got starts although none went on to make a decisive score, Mark Emanuel top scoring with 33. In the end, Bessborough scored 178-6 from 49 overs to claim a valuable point that will hopefully mark a turnaround in fortunes for the rest of the season.
The third eleven won their second game in a row with a narrow 24-run home win against Twickenham.
Top order scores of 24 by young keeper Ray Maloney and 54 by Sugeevan Sriskandarajah gave Bessborough a decent start before four quick wickets left them hanging on at 130-9. Fortunately, a last-wicket stand of 45 from Captain Nathan Theebaraj (12 not out) and Julio Maloney (30) got them up to a defendable 175.
Twickenham’s cause was not helped by two of their players getting injured, one a broken finger and one with a bloody nose after the ball reared up on him, although both returned to the crease in a valiant attempt to get the win. The away side fell just short all out for 151 with only a handful of overs remaining.
Despite a shoulder injury Sriskandarajah lead the way for Bessborough with 4-36. Tanushan Mahendran (2-25) and Stephen Kimsey Jr. (2-48) each bagged a brace of wickets.
Bessborough 4s lost to Crouch End on a minefield. Under 17s player Harshil Sumaria showed his potential with a brilliant spell of bowling, taking 4-16 in 6.1 overs, to help bowl the opposition out for 128. It would have been much less but for a fearless 38 by Crouch End’s number eight Rony whose plan of attack on the unpredictable strip was to swat every ball within his vicinity.
Bessborough’s chances of reaching the target were hampered in the field when Krishan Thakar, who was scheduled to open the batting, had to go to A&E after being struck by a fierce leg-side pull shot by Rony.
Regardless of their misfortunes none of Bessborough’s batsmen showed sufficient application to get the job done with only Sumaria (21) and Simon Heaney (11) getting into double-figures. Adding to the misery, number eight Bharat Vyas had to limp off after pulling a calf muscle running for a single.
Bessborough finished on 79-8, some 50 runs shy of the win.
History was made on Sunday as 16-year-old Fateh Singh broke Bessborough’s batting record by scoring 223 in a resounding victory over Darji (see separate story for details).