Scorecard

Totteridge Millhillians Cricket Club 4th XI v Wheathampstead II on Sat 02 May 2009 at 13:30
Match was Drawn

Match report TMCC VI v. Wheathampstead II
At Totteridge on 02/05/09
TMCC: 184-8 off 53.0 overs
Wheathampstead: 174-8 off 47.0 overs
Match Drawn

The 4s first outing of the year turned out to be an fairly accomplished performance although with those featuring left with that feeling that they let the opposition off the hook after having them at 48-6. The game eventually ending in an exciting draw as the visiting team pushed (albeit 5 overs too late) for victory.

Having won the toss and electing to bat, the opening 10 overs with the new ball saw by far and away the most fluent stroke play of the match with Mike Pratt and Jeremy Book making hay playing good aggressive shots without ever looking troubled by the right left hand combination of the Wheathampstead opening bowlers. As the shine went off the new ball scoring became tougher which resulted in Jeremy dragging on for a well made 25. Kamlesh came and went, a little unfortunate to be caught down the legside by the keeper. He was soon followed by Mike Pratt the ball before drinks after his open vigil of 35. TMCC’s middle order then came and went all too quickly as a combination of the soft ball, slow pitch and accurate left arm bowling of Wheathampstead’s best bowler all played a part. The exception for the middle order was Al Denham who hung around, as he does, accumulating 24 runs at his own pace before succumbing to the only controversial umpiring decision of the day as his old mate Matt John sent him packing, apparently trapped in front. The two versions of this tale are that either a) Al was plumb in front and hit on the full therefore offering the umpire no choice but to give him out with the ball deemed to be going straight on b) Al took a gigantic stride forward and to the offside therefore being struck on the front pad well outside the line with the bowling action being left arm orthodox meaning no umpire in his right mind could have taken seriously the ensuing appeal. I can offer no opinion as I was side on to the whole affair, suffice to say it took an entire lap of the boundary for Matt and Al to dissect the merits of the decision and move on. Al’s departure left TMs stalling at around 110-7 with fifteen overs or so to go. Much needed impetus was provided at this stage by Sharukh Naveea and Sanjay Patniak. Generally speaking the pairing showed that you could play safe on a pitch not offering much to the bowler and still bludgeon the occasion 4 ball to keep the score moving along. This said Sanjay played possibly the ugliest shot of the day (although I have no way of proving this possibly over the entire division) by swinging so hard at a slow ball that the only reason he was not given out stumped was because the momentum of the bat over his shoulder dragged him back into his crease before the bails were whipped off. Still, that aside he contributed 19 out of the partnership and thanks to Sharukh at the other end, who carried on until the end of the overs finishing with a top score of 47 not out, TMs closed on a respectable 184-8.

In the first match of the ‘08 season the Chairman rocked up as if there had never been a winter break from cricket taking a five-for and in strikingly familiar fashion he did exactly the same in the opening game of the ‘09 season and, against considerably stronger opposition it must be said. A couple of the wickets came through LBW or bowled as batsman played all round swinging deliveries. The third wicket probably being the pick as an off cutter virtually stopped in the wicket before turning in to bowl the frankly bemused batsman who, in fairness after a few seconds of contemplation acknowledged the skill involved in the delivery. A fourth followed and then unfortunately wicket number five had to wait a while. In the meantime Sharukh fresh from his antics with the bat was bowling with his usual parsimony and was seriously unlucky not to find the edge on more than one occasion. He did manage a wicket reasonably early on in the Wheathampstead reply (ruining Steve’s march for all 10 in the process), when the batsman managed to Cruyff turn a delivery into his own stumps. Sharukh then followed this up with a brilliant throw from the third man boundary that went straight into the stumps running out the Wheathampstead skipper. At this stage the 4s had the opposition at the aforementioned 48-6. Two things happened at this stage, Wheathampstead decided to stop playing shots and TMs took the new ball having until this point played with the old spongy ball to great effect. Once the two batsman stopped playing shots obviously creating chances became much more difficult, the new ball unfortunately did not assist and fifteen or so overs of stalemate ensued. Jahangir Ahmed came on for a spell from the “Ugly Building Fence” end of the ground (in some form of vindication for Nick’s dogged insistence on erecting the Ugly Building Fence it did stop a six going over). Jahangir manfully called on all his box of tricks to try and tease a wicket from the opposition, unfortunately they simply were not biting at this point with Jay’s spell lasting 6 overs and costing just 14 runs. Spin was tried, spin failed (having mentioned earlier Sanjay’s worst shot of the day I suppose it’s only fair I should pay homage to the worst over of the day bowled by myself and included a mixture of short pitched filth and over pitched filth and little that you could generously refer to as a threatening delivery). So with Wheathampstead having accumulated a few more runs slowly and the overs starting to run out orders came from the sideline to try and win it. The batsman intent on opening their arms and TMs two most reliable bowlers Steve and Sharukh returned intent on stopping them. 10 overs of exciting cricket followed with some boundaries scored and chances created. Sharukh’s second spell led to a good catch to Jeremy and Steve picked up number five to another batsman who hadn’t figured out how to keep out the swinging ball. All results were possible, a couple of sixes gave the opposition hope of the win and TMs dropped two tough chances at long on and long off which would have gone a long way for a home win. In the end tight bowling prevented the batsman from getting the momentum the needed but it was good to see a batting side prepared to loose to win. Sharukh finished with 17-4-37-2 and some sore arms and the Chairman took his five declaring, and I quote, “count them 1,2,3,4,5!!” finished with 16-1-72-5; brilliant stuff.

To conclude, a good game of cricket, an exciting finish, a very decent home performance and a pinch of regret for missed opportunities.

Totteridge Millhillians Cricket Club 4th XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
184
(0.0 overs)		    
Michael Pratt Bowled  35
Jeremy Book Bowled  25 1
Kamlesh Bharadia Caught  1
Al Denham Lbw  24
Ketan Shah Caught  5
Kit Hutcheson Bowled  0
Sanjay Patnaik Caught  19 1
Jahangir Ahmed Bowled  3
Shahrokh Navaee Not Out  47 1
Chris Benn Not Out  3
Steve Lyall  

Wheathampstead II Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Wheathampstead II Batting
Player name Runs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
174 (0.0 overs)
Dabare Bowled  12
Yogendra Lbw  4
Wilson Bowled  5
Keane Caught  10
Griffiths Bowled  12
Kier Run out  4
Garland Caught  28
Mcewan Not Out  56
Tree Bowled  1
Arbuthnot Not Out  11
   

Totteridge Millhillians Cricket Club 4th XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Shahrokh Navaee17.0437218.502.18
Steve Lyall16.0171514.204.44
Jahangir Ahmed6.031400.002.33
Chris Benn5.011500.003.00
Sanjay Patnaik3.001200.004.00