12/05/2024
The 1st XI continued their league progress with a hard fought win over South Croydon as the game was decided in very last over.
We were put in to bat after losing the toss, which was no surprise given the pitch. No wonder then when we struggled to 28-4 in about 10 overs against a pretty average bowling attack.
While Nas, Anshul and Deep kept the innings going, they could not kick on leaving us 77-8 in 25 overs. Atif and Manzar took the attack to the bowlers though with a rain of 6s from Atif in particular that will give South London CC bowlers nightmares this week :).
Atif however was bowled on 39, (5 sixes), on a precarious 134-9 with near 6 overs to go. Our last wicket pair of Manzar (last man out for 41) and Sohail put on an excellent stand of 40 took the score to 174. A score our bowlers felt confident to defend.
After lunch, Nas and Atif opened the bowling and were exceptional, keeping runs to a minimum. Nas got us the first breakthrough in the 9th over, fielding off his own bowling and running out the in touch opening batsman (28-1). Sohail took the next 2 batsmen, both bowled after a number of LBW decisions were turned down. At drinks, they needed 110 from 20 overs. With number 4 Dua landing some big hits, punishing every loose ball, leaving them 64 to win with 10 overs remaining. Even with wickets falling on one end, he kept scoring freely, getting them to 151-8 in 36 overs. They ended up needing 19 off the last over when he fell hitting a full ball from Manzar to cow corner with Atif completing an excellent catch under pressure. Manzar then finished off the innings by bowlingthe last man to help us to our second win - his stats 8 overs, 28 runs and 2 wickets to go with the 41 he scored batting. Nas is also due a mention with a miserly 8 overs, 11 runs and 1 wicket.
Well done to our bowlers and to everyone keeping our fielding tight! We are now tied at the top of the league table with 4 other teams, who have won all their games too.
Sohail leads the league on wickets taken (6) and top performance (4 wickets 0 runs against Old Becs Boys). Manzar leads the fielding stats with 3 catches.
On to next weekend with both teams in action.
