WEEKEND REVIEW - MAY 2-3
By Simon Heaney
Saturday 2 May 2015
FRIENDLY
Harrow CC 1st XI 198 all out (39 overs)
Bessborough CC 1st XI 202-4 (31.3 overs)
Bessborough won by 6 wickets
FRIENDLY
Bessborough CC 2nd XI 189-6 (40 overs)
Harrow CC 2nd XI 181-6 (40 overs)
Bessborough won by 8 runs
Sunday 3 May 2015
MIDDLESEX CUP
Winchmore Hill CC 253-9 (40 overs)
Bessborough CC Sunday XI 199 all out (37 overs)
Winchmore Hill won by 54 runs
Middlesex Cup K.O. for Bessborough
For the second Sunday running Bessborough were knocked out of a cup competition, this weekend's being a 54-run defeat away to Winchmore Hill in the second round of the Middlesex Cup.
The home side won the toss and decided to bat first in a game reduced to 40 overs per side due to a rain delayed start. The opening pair of Morgan Prior (48) and Charlie Holmes (45) put on 101 for the first wicket and despite the fall of a couple of quick wickets the runs continued to flow. Mark Barrell added further impetus with a brisk 56. Sherrick Chavda (3-33) bagged three wickets in the final over but that didn’t take much of the shine off Winchmore Hill’s total of 253-9.
Bessborough made a poor start to the big chase with last week’s centurion Kushal Patel this time making no score and shortly after fellow opener Sanil Shah (4) followed him back to the clubhouse leaving the side on 7-2. Sherrick Chavda (30) and Hemmen Jutla (34) did their best to keep up with the rate but a flurry of wickets around the 20-overs mark put pay to any hope of victory although Eranda Jeyasinghe (33), Jay Chavda (32) and Stephen Kimsey (7 not out) showed some spirit with the latter pair sharing a last-wicket stand of 38. Bessborough finished on 199 all out from 37 overs.
On Saturday, Bessborough’s makeshift first and second teams picked up two friendly victories over Harrow CC. The 1s made the short trip to Sudbury Hill and will have been happy to have restricted the home side to 199 all out after they had won the toss and elected to bat.
The wickets were shared between Sharuban Kanthasamy (3-21), Sahil Hathi (3-39), Gihan Pallage (2-36) and Kibreeth Rameez (1-33).
In response, Bessborough’s innings got off to a stuttering start with the early losses of Phil Bush (2) and Sanil Shah (0) but a partnership of 139 between opener Ishan Shah (61 not out) and centurion Ian Barrie (103) helped to secure what turned out to be a fairly comfortable six-wicket win.
It was a much closer affair in the 2s game at Headstone Manor, which turned into the Rajan Modha show. Firstly, coming in after the fall of opener Simon Heaney (2) in the third over, Rajan (pictured) showed off his batting prowess with a well-crafted and paced 116 (14 x fours, 3 x sixes). For much as his innings he was accompanied by his dad Nitin (31) as the father-and-son team put on 102 for the second wicket.
Bessborough ended their 40 overs on 189 for 6 and looked on course for an early finish as new pace bowler Daniel Malik (2-25) bagged wickets in his first two overs. But the visitors rallied thanks to former Bessborough player Fateh Singh (47) – he of our club record score of 223 – and James Han (71). With the pair looking resolute – apart from a very close Singh stumping appeal being turned down - and on top of the required run rate the Bessborough side were in desperate need of a breakthrough. Sensing he had the Midas touch skipper Ian Ridley tossed the ball to Rajan and the boy wonder worked his magic again, first flying through the air for a dextrous caught and bowled of Han and then bowling Singh with his clever off breaks. He then trapped Nilesh (0) lbw giving him figures of 3-17.
For good measure Rajan later pouched a lofted drive from the dangerous Derrick Redhead (15) in the last over that all but sealed the game with Harrow falling 8 runs shy of the target.
Next week marks the start of the league campaign with the 1st XI taking on North London at home in their return to the Middlesex County Cricket League. The 2s take on the same opposition away, while 3s and 4s kick off their Middlesex 1987 Cricket League campaigns against Osterley (home) and Wembley (away) respectively.
If you want to be considered for any of these games you must add your availabilities to the website before Tuesday 6pm.
Bessborough CC 2015 Fantasy League - Week 3 MVPs
- Rajan Modha 221 points
- Ian Barrie 178 points
- Ishan Shah 91 points