WEEKEND REVIEW - JUNE 21
By Simon Heaney
Saturday 21 June 2014
MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
S.K.L.P 1st XI 134 all out (43 overs)
Bessborough 1st XI 243-9 dec (45.3 overs)
Bessborough won by 109 runs
MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Bessborough 2nd XI 267-8 dec (50 overs)
Osterley 2nd XI 268-7 (48.2 overs)
Osterley won by 3 wickets
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Alexandra Palace 3rd XI 182-5 dec(47 overs)
Bessborough 3rd XI 164 all out (42.2 overs)
Alexandra Palace won by 18 runs
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
Bessborough 4th XI 260-5 (47 overs)
Southgate 4th XI 173-7 (45 overs)
Winning draw for Bessborough
Three in a row for table-topping Bessborough
Bessborough’s First Eleven made it three wins in a row on Saturday with a comfortable 109-run victory away to S.K.L.P. to consolidate their position at the top of the Middlesex Championship.
Having been put in, Bessborough’s batsmen put on a confident display despite some unfounded pre-match concerns over the state of the wicket.
Ramesh Gunalan (34) and Ishan Shah (43) lead from the front with a 50-run opening partnership, while half centuries from numbers 4 and 5 Ian Barrie (61) and Sherrick Chavda (51) cemented the strong start allowing Captain Rohan Karkhanis to declare on 243-9 after 45.3 overs.
In reply, S.K.L.P. struggled to fend off Bessborough’s opening attack of Neal Patel (3-27) and Menesh Gunalan (2-27) and found themselves in a hole on 18-2 after seven overs.
Young spin wizard Mitesh Vyas (3-25) then made his customary inroads into the middle order to leave S.K.L.P. teetering on 60-5 after 24 overs. Aashil Pindolia (38) and Jagdish Rabadiya (32) led a comeback of sorts, but Patel and Gunalan returned to snuff out the danger. A smart run out by Vivek Patel (1-1), who also grabbed a wicket and another for his namesake Neal ended the contest after 43 overs.
It is the first time in at least four seasons that the first team have won three consecutive league matches and the latest win stretches their lead in the Middlesex Championship Division 1 to four points over Birkbeck College in second and 11 to Osterley in third.
Next week the team make the short trip to Perivale Phoencians, and will be looking to improve on the two winning draws against them last season.
After last week’s batting collapse against Southgate, Bessborough 2s form with the willow in hand returned, but despite a season’s best tally it wasn’t enough to stop opponents Osterley going home with the 10 points.
Having won the toss, Bessborough openers Phil Bush (50) and Adil Parker (37) made hay in perfect batting conditions putting on 111 for the first wicket, but when both players were out in quick succession there followed a dramatic collapse as the home side slumped to 134-5 with Osterley’s Abbassi (5-81) the main tormentor.
Fortunately, Nirav Ghantiwala (64) and Alex Irani (54) rebuilt the innings with an excellent sixth wicket stand of 108. Captain Bush then declared after 50 overs with Bessborough looking good on 267-8.
Sadly though, a strong Osterley line-up proved too good and was able to reach the target with 11 balls to spare for the loss of seven wickets.
The result sees Bessborough slip to eighth place in the Middlesex County Cricket League Division 3, 23 points off leaders Osterley who now have 45.
The third eleven were narrowly beaten away to Alexandra Park and remain in deep trouble in the Middlesex 1987 League Division 1.
Bessborough did well to restrict their hosts to 182-5 declared from 47 overs, but in the end were beaten by 18 run despite good knocks from Dillon Maloney (43) and Haroon Qadoos (42).
The fourth eleven were unlucky not to claim the maximum 10 points, having to settle for just the four from a winning draw at home to Southgate in the Middlesex 1987 League Division 5.
Bessborough openers Simon Heaney (77) and Richard Edmands (9) got off to a blistering start with a partnership of 72 from the first 11 overs before Edmands was trapped LBW by Dave Wakefield (2-84).
Heaney and Captain Sahil Hathi (36) added another 50 runs before Heaney was caught by a fine catch at square leg by Southgate’s impressive colt Tom Clark. A fine unbeaten 95-run partnership between Sammy Hawes (24 not out) and Wasi Ali (66 not out) accelerated the run rate so that Hathi could declare after 47 overs with Bessborough on 260-5, the highest score in the team’s short history.
Despite an early wicket for Ravi Vyas (1-16), Bessborough struggled to make inroads into the Southgate top order, which well marshalled by their experienced skipper Ricky Gunn (45) who was eventually caught by Hawes off Shyam Lakhani (1-10).
Southgate’s other senior players Graham Clark (32) and Shaffick Babwah (22) also put up some stubborn resistance to further frustrate Bessborough’s attack. A flurry of late wickets for Eddie Idrees (2-54), Ali (1-35) and Hathi (2-10) gave a brief glimmer of victory, but in the end there simply was not enough time left for the bowlers to let rip into the tail end with seven wickets down.