Scorecard

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI v Old Finchleians on Sat 05 Sep 2020 at 12:00pm
Northwood Town Cricket Club Won by 61 runs

Match report Town welcomed league leaders Old Finchleians this week. The equation was quite simple - win the game BUT make sure Old Finchleians didn’t get more than 12 points. Judging by the last few results between these sides it was going to be a great challenge for the Town! With this in mind skipper Loomba’s plan of winning the toss and fielding first got spoilt when Old Finchleians opted to field first having won the toss.

With lot of rain overnight it was quite obvious the pitch was going to be slow and difficult to bat on. Batting first in similar conditions last week proved beneficial for the Town batters as Loomba and Vadgama started cautiously. With Old Finchleians skipper being a great friend of Loomba off the field he was determined to make sure he didn’t give away his wicket away cheaply (like he usually does). In-form Vadgama departed early leaving Town on 25/1 in 10 overs. In came another in-form bat S Modi who tried to build the partnership with Loomba before departing cheaply to an ABW (arm before wicket). Question from M Patel still remains unanswered as to why didn’t Modi use his bat considering he’s got 3 in his kit? T Sheikh promoted to no 4 quickly started putting the pressure back on the Old Finchleians by putting any bad balls away. Boundaries started flowing and runs started coming easily. Just when Town thought they were building a good platform, Loomba (28) departed getting bowled round his legs by a leggie. Unalkat’s run out meant Town were 90/4 in 21 overs and in need of big partnership. Shortly after the drinks break it went from bad to worse as Sheikh departed after a fine inning of 39 with Town on 102/5. In-form K Lawrence walked out to the crease and together with A Burt started building a partnership. They frustrated Old Finch’s bowlers and put on 59 runs. Lawrence in particular showing his class by playing lovely strokes all around the ground rotating the strike. Burt departed trying to accelerate towards the end but Town ended the inning on 175/8 from their 45 overs. Brilliant Lawrence remained not out on 41 allowing Town to set a respectable target on a difficult wicket.

So Town had to restrict Old Finchleians to 169 or less which would make sure Town go top of the table going into the last game with destiny in their own hands to finish top of the league. Another disciplined bowling attack like last week was needed and Town’s opening pair of Daly and Lawrence continued where they left off. The pitch was giving all the help needed and the pair kept putting the ball in the right areas making it difficult for Old Finchleians batters to score any runs. Town knew getting Old Finch’s skipper early was the only way they’ll be able to restrict them to a low score. H Depala trying to break the shackles tried to take on Lawrence and in doing so ended up hitting it straight in the air. There was a pin drop silence while the ball was in the air as Town skipper Loomba was under it. As he has done so often previously under pressure took a good catch to get rid of his good friend and dent Old Finch’s chances of chasing the target. Lawrence was unlucky when a sharp chance at gully was put down but Town continued to put the pressure on. Lawrence’s contribution with the bat and bowl was exceptional today. Daly was unlucky not to pick up a wicket at the other end. T Depala kept grinding it against tough conditions which included some nice drives but introduction of Shah and Vadgama meant wickets kept tumbling at the other end. Shah bowled with great control while picking up a wicket but YET again Vadgama with figures of 7-3-16-4 went through Old Finch’s middle order like a hot knife through butter. T Depala finally departing for 38! Even after using a thesaurus we’re running out of superlatives to describe Vadgama’s ability to win games for Town. Tanveer bowling first time for Town 1s replaced Shah and got a wicket straight away. Introduction of Patel replacing Vadgama made sure any chance of a revival from Old Finch was quashed. Patel spun his way to 3/20 which included a bowled wicket where the batsman left a ball which some (Sohan) saying it pitched in Pinner and turned a mile to take top of off. Old Finch finally finished their inning on 114 giving Town a comprehensive win.

Loomba spoke after the game: “Delighted with the effort from all the lads today. Big game needed a big performance and every single person in the team delivered whether it was with the bat, ball or in the field. Destiny is in our own hands now playing the last game and we’re very much determined and focused to get over the line to finish as league champions!”

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1b 5lb 
for 8 wickets
6
175		        
Akshay Loomba b R. Depala 28 3 1
Veer Vadgama ct N. Depala 10 1
Sohan Modi lbw R. Depala 10 1 1
Tanveer Sheikh ct R. Depala 39 6 1 1
Amish Unalkat Run out  7 1
Andy Burt b Denner 21 2
Kyle Lawrence Not Out  41 4 1
Mikhil Patel ct Denner 1 1
Krunal Patel ct Denner 3
Jack Daly Not Out  0 2
Keval Shah  

Old Finchleians Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
N Depala9.0024124.002.67
Veise7.002600.003.71
R Depala9.0149316.335.44
H Depala8.033800.004.75
Doshi9.011800.002.00
Denner3.001234.004.00

Old Finchleians Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
7w 4b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
13
114 (37.3 overs)		     
Himashu ct c. Loomba b. Lawrence 6
Raj ct c. Sheikh b. Vadgama 14
Tejas b Vadgama 38
Nikunj ct c. Lawrence b. Vadgama 3
Ben b Vadgama 0
Hitesh ct c. Daly b. K. Patel 19
Andre b Shah 6
Tim ct c. Daly b. Sheikh 8
Kaushik b K. Patel 0
Rits ct c. M Patel b.K. Patel 7
Neil Not Out  1

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jack Daly6.011300.002.17
Kyle Lawrence6.0023123.003.83
Keval Shah9.0024124.002.67
Veer Vadgama7.021644.002.29
Krunal Patel5.302036.673.64
Tanveer Sheikh4.0013113.003.25

  • Umpire :
    Colin Lynch
  • Scorer :