WEEKEND REVIEW - JUNE 14-15
By Simon Heaney
Saturday 14 June 2014
MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 1st XI 237-6 (43.4 overs)
Birkbeck College 1st XI 236-9 dec (54 overs)
Bessborough won by 4 wickets
MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Southgate 2nd XI 113 all out (45.2 overs)
Bessborough 2nd XI 97 all out (34.2 overs)
Southgate won by 16 runs
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 3rd XI 258-5 dec (35 overs)
Edmonton 3rd XI 144-3 (46 overs)
Winning draw for Bessborough
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
North London 5th XI 171 all out (39.4 overs)
Bessborough 4th XI 163 all out (30.2 overs)
North London won by 8 runs
Bessborough on top
Bessborough’s First Eleven moved top of the Middlesex Championship on Saturday evening after a hard fought 4-wicket victory over Birkbeck College at Headstone Manor.
Captain Rohan Karkhanis put Birkbeck into bat to take advantage of the cloud cover, but the decision looked to have backfired when the visitors’ openers got off to a flyer with Amir Ihsan (60) in particular punishing Bessborough’s attack with a flurry of boundaries.
Birkbeck were motoring along at nearly six runs per over when Neal Patel (5-71) made the breakthrough in the 14th over by removing the dangerous Ihsan for the first of his five scalps. Ihsan’s opening partner Ali Haider (14) was out soon after, caught behind by Jigar Shah off Akshay Hirani (2-65).
Spinner Karkhanis (1-26) and Mitesh Vyas (1-27) slowed the run rate in the middle overs with only Shahzad (43) really helping to move Birkbeck’s innings forward. Patel started his second spell with the wicket of Shahzad and he picked up another two soon after.
Qaiser Rizwan added a quick 29 runs before Patel removed him with his second sharp caught and bowled. Birkbeck declared not long after on 236-9 from 54 overs.
Bessborough’s reply started off a little shakily when Ishan Shah was out in the 5th over for 6, but a superb 104-run partnership between Ramesh Gunalan (79) and number three Nirav Ghantiwala (84 not out) put the home side in control.
Following the exit of Gunalan, Ghantiwala (pictured) pressed his claims for a regular top order slot by steering Bessborough home to victory as four more partners came and went after making starts.
The win gives Bessborough pole position in the Middlesex Championship, but such is the congestion at the top of the table that they are only five points ahead of sixth place.
Bessborough 2s blew the chance to go second in the Middlesex County Cricket League Division 3 as they failed to chase down a low target of 114 set by Southgate.
Home side Southgate found it tough to score against the Bessborough attack, spearheaded by Rohan Desai (4-25), as they were dismissed for 113 from 45 overs. Yet, with a third consecutive win seemingly within easy reach, Bessborough’s batsmen showed even less composure than their hosts with only Sanil Shah (34) and Adil Parker (14) of the top order making it into double figures as the side collapsed to 97 all out.
The third eleven finally found some form as they gained a winning draw at home to league leaders Edmonton. Bessborough rattled up 258-5 declared from just 35 overs thanks to half centuries from Dillon Maloney (59), Harris Siddiqui (56) and Haroon Qadoos (51).
In reply, Edmonton made no effort to go for the win and their batsman took very few risks to finish on 144-3 to claim a point for the losing draw. Bessborough’s four points lifted them off the bottom of the Middlesex 1987 League Division 1.
A combination of only having 10 players, some sloppy fielding and poor shot selection saw Bessborough 4s contrive to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, losing by 8 runs away to North London.
Bessborough skipper Sahil Hathi (1-45) won the toss and put the opposition in to bat and was unfortunate to see opener Veil dropped in the slips from his first over. That proved a costly error as the seasoned North London player went on to score 72.
Despite a couple of wickets for under-13 captain Jamie Young (2-21) - helped by a spectacular overhead catch in the covers by Simon Heaney - North London were on course for well over 200, until Hathi turned to his spin veterans Bharat Vyas and Dipak Chavda who proceeded to rip through the middle order and tail. Vyas picked up four wickets without conceding a single run in a remarkable 6-over spell, while Chavda was equally unplayable on his way to 2-2 as North London were dismissed for 171.
Despite the early loss of Praekash Balendra, trapped LBW without scoring, Bessborough were moving along nicely as Heaney (42) and Richard Ward (32) put on 58 for the second wicket, dealing almost exclusively in boundaries. Unfortunately, both batsmen attempted one too many big shots and missed straight ones from North London’s most dangerous bowler Mike Leighton (4-56).
Hathi was looking in fine form in his first innings of the season with a half century (56) but he fell in exactly the same fashion trying to force one from Leighton only to hear the death rattle with Bessborough 20 runs from the winning line.
Some poor shots and running between the wickets saw Bessborough lose two quick wickets to leave the last pair of Vyas (0) and Chavda (8 not out) needing 14 for the win, but they fell 9 runs short of the win when Vyas was stumped wandering from his crease.
The result means Bessborough drop to fifth in the Middlesex 1987 League Division 5, 12 points behind leaders Old Actonians.
On Sunday, Bessborough beat Hampstead in the second round of the Dukes Chess Valley League Division 3. More details to follow.