Scorecard

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI v Redbourn III on Sat 04 Aug 2018 at 01:00pm
Northwood Town Cricket Club Won by 5 wickets.

Match report On a warm sunny day, Northwood Town 2nd XI welcomed Redbourn 3rd XI at Chestnut Avenue, who are among the mix for the top 3 spots in the league. After losing the toss, town were inserted into the field to bowl on a decent looking pitch and fast outfield that suggested it was going to be a run fest.

In the absence of reliable Malik, new ball was shared between S. Patel and Syed who was returning after a second honeymoon. S. Patel in his first over made a huge impact, first with a loud appeal for close lbw which was turned down then followed with a yorker that disturbed the Redbourn’s openers furniture, giving town the perfect start. Redbourn’s no 1 & 3 started to rebuild the innings with a perfect mix of caution by no 1 and aggression from no 3. Good balls were respected and any occasional loose ball being put away by no 3. At the end of 12 overs, Redbourn were 55 for 1.

Bowling change in the form of P Patel and Avadhani started to tighten the screws on the scoring rate by bowling in the excellent areas and by the end of 20 overs, the score was 80 for 1. Redbourn No 3 who was feeling strangled by some tight lengths, finally took a chance on a length delivery from Avadhani to heave him over mid-wicket, only to see his furniture on the floor. Next over it was P. Patel’s turn to be rewarded for some excellent bowling and he got no 4 out caught by R. Patel on mid-on, providing town with a double break-through.

Redbourn no 1 was still around, playing blocking game patiently so far, started to rebuild the innings with no 5 as the duo of P. Patel & Avadhani gave away nothing to score from. P. Patel finished his excellent spell of 10 overs once again on a trot, giving away 26 runs for 1 wicket. By the end of 35th over, Redbourn were 125 for 3, showing how good both P Patel & Avadhani bowled in the middle phase.

Given the pitch was not offering much to the bowlers and was looking full of runs, the next 15 overs were going to be crucial for both sides. It was evident that Redbourn were going to accelerate the run-rate as the scoring so far was below par. At this crucial juncture, enters the spin twin of town who have enjoyed good success in the recent games. Both R. Patel and Anjum started well by bowling in the right areas making it difficult for the batsmen to score but as expected, both the batsmen started taking their chances against good bowling and with some good fortune and few misfielding, the scoring rate started to increase. In the process of taking risk, Redbourn’s opener finally got out caught by Syed, who has made a habit of taking spectacular catches! R. Patel got No 6 bowled in his next over and Anjum got the last wicket of Redbourn before No 7 & 8 finished their innings on 197 for 6 in their 50 overs.

This is the exact situation & feeling, town has found themselves in the last few matches where we felt we gave away 20 to 30 extra runs in the field but overall felt the score was below par and chaseable.

After a chart topping tea from lovely Marjorie, town openers, Mekwan and Ramawat started the chase. True to his reputation, Mekwan (8) started well by hitting few lovely boundaries before getting out in the 4th over of the innings. Haji, fresh from his ton joined skipper Ramawat in the middle. Soon Ramawat picked-up from where Mekwan left by putting anything loose to the boundary and Redbourn bowlers kept providing the loose balls to Ramawat and he continued to deposit them out of boundary. It looked as if the roles were reversed, Haji took the back seat and Ramawat took the aggressors role. At the end of 10 overs, town were 55 for the loss of 1 wicket.

The script continued for the next 10 overs, anything wide or short was either swept or cut to the boundary by Ramawat and Haji (17) ensured the strike was rotated. Together they put on a second wicket partnership of a very important 72 runs before Haji was out in the 19th over when the score was 92. This partnership laid the foundation for the chase that was needed. Enters Pandey, who has been playing with the intent and hit the first ball to the long-off boundary of the Redbourn leggie. Together they both added 26 runs before Pandey (15) edged to the same leggie to the keeper.

S. Patel, joined skipper Ramawat in the middle, the conversation was quite simple, to rotate the strike and put the bad balls away without taking any risk as town had already put 120 for the loss of 3 wickets at the end of 26th over. Ramawat started playing cautiously, leaving anything close to the stumps on the off-side and punishing anything wayward. Together they stitched 16 runs before Ramawat (88) got out in the 30th over caught in slips playing a cut shot, bringing an end to an excellent innings that was full of intent and confidence, leaving score line at 134 for 4 in 30 overs.

R. Patel joined his elder brother S. Patel in the middle and as often they have been doing together, the expectation was for them to see town home in the next 20 overs needing 64 runs with 6 wickets in hand. Both started playing cautiously but soon found it difficult to get going as Redbourn spinners were getting hard to put away. Next 10 overs only produced 27 runs, introducing some nervous faces in the dressing room. R. Patel (15), hit couple of desperate boundaries before being bowled in the 42nd over, still needing 30 odd runs.

The stage was set for P. Patel who has been smashing well in the nets so far without any real opportunity to shine in the middle and he exactly got what he wanted. It was quite apparent from his body language that he was focused and resolute that he was not going to take the game deep as his idol MS Dhoni would have liked. He dispatched the second ball that he faced to the boundary making it quite clear to everyone what he had in his mind. P Patel (25*) continued with the intent and runs started to come-by thick and fast and soon it was all over in the 46th over. S. Patel (22*) on the other end, provided the stable support that was needed.

A fantastic win again based on the fine performances of our bowlers who restricted Redboun on a below par score of 197. Special efforts from Avadhani and P. Patel in the bowling department and equally well supported by R. Patel. While chasing, skipper Ramawat ensured that the run-rate was never an issue and laid a solid platform. Towards the end, sterling efforts were put in by S. Patel and P. Patel to ensure town chased their target without any fuss in the 46th over.

This win keeps us in the mix at the top of the table, we are still 4th in the position but the difference between us and the top team is 35 points. Everything to play for in the next 4 games. The equation is quite simple, we give everything that we have in these coming matches and I am very positive that our efforts and energy will definitely land us on the right side and at the right level.

UpWards & OnWards!

Redbourn III Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
13b 6lb 
for 6 wickets
19
197 (50.0 overs)		     
J. Pritchard ct  S. Syed b R. Patel 55
J. Dyer b  S. Patel 0
J. Hawkins b  K. Avadhani 42
J. Jackson ct  R. Patel b P. Patel 0
T. Ascroft lbw  I. Anjum 44
H. Amos b  R. Patel 1
A. Mathur Not Out  21
J. McKay Not Out  16
K. Bajpai  
J. Fleming  
M. Lloyd  

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Shahmir Syed6.032700.004.50
Suryanaryan Patel7.0036136.005.14
Kashyap Avadhani8.0126126.003.25
Pratik Patel10.0426126.002.60
Ramchandra Patel10.0235217.503.50
Iqbal Anjum9.0048148.005.33

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 5w 3b 1lb 
for 5 wickets
10
201		        
Suvin Mekwan ct  J. Fleming 8 2
Ravi Ramawat ct  A. Mathur 88 18
Fozan Haji ct  & b K. Bajpai 17 3
Pradip Pandey ct  M. Lloyd 15 2
Suryanaryan Patel Not Out  22
Ramchandra Patel b  J. Hawkins 15 3 1
Pratik Patel Not Out  25 3
Rabi Motiwala  
Iqbal Anjum  
Shahmir Syed   1
Kashyap Avadhani  

Redbourn III Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
H. Amos3.002300.007.67
J. Fleming10.0338138.003.80
J. Hawkins10.0147147.004.70
M. Lloyd10.0029129.002.90
A. mathur10.0041141.004.10
K. Bajpai3.4118118.004.91