WEEKEND REVIEW - SEPTEMBER 6
By Simon Heaney
Saturday 6 September 2014
MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Old Actonians 1st XI 269-6 dec (49 overs)
Bessborough 1st XI 173-7 (47 overs)
Winning draw for Old Actonians
MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
Bessborough 2nd XI 96-1 (14.1 overs)
Wembley 2nd XI 92 all out (44.1 overs)
Bessborough won by 9 wickets
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Bessborough 3rd XI 247-5 dec (48 overs)
Old Actonians 3rd XI 153-9 (44 overs)
Winning draw for Bessborough
MIDDLESEX 1987 CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
S.K.L.P. 3rd XI 168-6 dec (44 overs)
Bessborough 4th XI 65 all out (31.1 overs)
S.K.L.P. won by 103 runs
Mission accomplished as 1s finish unbeaten
Bessborough’s first eleven completed captain Rohan Karkhanis’ challenge set last week after winning the Middlesex Championship title by finishing the season unbeaten, while the second eleven did all they could but were pipped to promotion by results elsewhere.
Although far from their most convincing performance of the year, Bessborough 1s came back with a losing draw at Old Actonians on Saturday to finish the campaign with eight wins, seven draws (four winning and three losing) and no defeats. Their tally of 102 points was five ahead of second place Osterley.
Old Actonians piled on 269-6 declared after 49 overs following a century for South African overseas opener Givon Christian (118) and half centuries for all-rounders Scott Ensom (54) and Jinesh Patel (56). Number eight bowler Ramesh Gunalan (5-3) helped stop the hosts from doing further damage with five wickets in six late order overs.
In reply, Bessborough never looked like chasing down the target, but equally they weren’t in danger of losing thanks to solid partnerships of 46 between openers Ramesh Gunalan (41) and Tharshan Kanagaraj (9) and 79 between number three batsman Rishi Patel (74) and number five Sherrick Chavda (35). Ensom with 5-56 was the main danger man for Old Actonians.
Needing to win themselves and hoping for anything other than a win for Enfield to secure promotion from the Middlesex County Cricket League Division 3, Bessborough’s second eleven did their job by winning in no time at home to Wembley.
Wembley were dismissed for 97 in 44 overs with Urooj Ahmed (4-16), Nitin Modha (4-60) and Rohan Desai (2-16) the only bowlers that captain Phil Bush needed to call upon.
Bessborough only required 14 overs to win the game as boundaries came flying off the bats of openers Ahmed (51 not out) and Adil Parker (37). Having arrived from India mid-season Urooj (pictured) very quickly got back into the Bessborough groove. In just six league games for the second eleven, he scored 241 runs at average of 60.25 and pouched 23 wickets with an average of 13.26. Try to be here for the start of next season buddy!
The early finish meant an agonising wait in the clubhouse to hear of news of Enfield’s match against relegation-threatened Brentham. It turned out that Enfield did what they needed so good luck to them next year.
Already relegated, the third eleven produced one of their best performances of the season at home to Old Actonians, but couldn’t quite get the last wicket for the win. Bessborough set a formidable target of 248 after a brilliant century from James Wheeler (123) who put on 167 for the second wicket with Richard Edmands (52) – clearly being a new dad works wonders for your batting.
In reply, Bessborough picked up regular wickets with stand-in captain Ian Ridley (3-20) well supported by his younger charges Sharuban Kanthasamy (2-28), Hamish Jeyacumar (2-38), Tom Newland (1-5), Samir Agrawal (1-9), and Harshil Samaria (0-20). Old Actonians finished on 153-9 after 44 overs to deny us the win.
Despite the disappointment of relegation, the prospects of bouncing straight back next year are good, especially considering the the crop of talented youngsters who will be another year stronger, while hopefully some of the more senior players who have been understandably distracted by family matters this season will be available on a more regular basis next year.
Having got themselves back into promotion contention, the fourth eleven were dealt a cruel blow early in the week when they heard that the opposition for Stanmore – the side Bessborough were hoping to overtake – had conceded, leaving our boys with nothing to play for against already promoted S.K.L.P.
Skipper Sahil Hathi decided to experiment and opened the bowling with two players that hadn’t seen much action with the ball all season. The plan worked as Richard Ward (3-42) took out most of S.K.L.P.’s top order, while Shyam Lakhani (0-18) deserved much more for his excellent eight-over spell.
In the end S.K.L.P. declared on 168-6 after 44 overs as they needed the win to secure the title, while a draw would have given it to Stanmore. Bessborough continued the experimental approach into their batting and it’s fair to say that apart from Ravi Vyas (11) who impressed on moving from his usual number 10 position to the number 3 slot, it’s not something that will likely ever be repeated as the side were rolled for 65 in 30 overs.
Congratulations to everyone at the club for making this one of the best season’s in Bessborough’s recent history. See you all again in April for more of the same please!