Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI v Harpenden IV on Sat 01 Sep 2018 at 12:30pm
St Albans Cricket Club Lost by 19 runs

Match report St Albans Threes met Harpenden Fours for the final fixture of the Herts League 2018 season, an affair which had no bearing on either promotion or relegation, with just pride on the line.

Saints won the toss and so bowled first, and although traffic problems meant they took the field with nine men, Button claimed a wicket in the first over of the innings as the unfortunate batsman found one of the few legside fielders.

That was the last joy the bowlers had for some time, as Harpenden’s Washington and Newton batted beyond the drinks break. The bowlers kept releasing the pressure with a four-ball most overs, while the catching again left much to be desired, leaving the normally irrepressible Murphy quietened as he suffered two dropped catches in an over. Newton - 73, with 16 boundaries - struck the ball hard, and often in the air, to negate the impact of the uncut grass on the outfield.

With the run rate in excess of 4 per over, it was Price who made the breakthrough with the total on 118. As they say, one brings two - and in this case, three and four as well, with Kumar (2/51) nabbing two more in the following over and Price a second for herself. A bit of Parkinson sibling rivalry was on show, as Harpenden’s Parkinson took some stick on his arrival at the crease, and was dismissed for a golden duck. Just previously, Islam had comically juggled a catch at long on with all the aplomb of a circus entertainer, and the relief of all - no more than Moksy himself.

St Albans were now in the ascendency at 5/122, but the two McNeils now built a new partnership, broken by Price, who finished a fine spell with 3/25, reward for finding a good length. The 44th over yielded three wickets for Walker (3/15), breaking the back of the innings. Harpenden finished on 195 as Button polished off the innings for 2/41.

The wicket was now playing the best it had all season - could St Albans use that to their advantage? Openers Knill-Jones and Ferguson made a solid beginning, but unfortunately set the tone for what followed as they both made starts that they couldn’t convert.

The game ebbed and flowed, with wickets falling regularly enough to ensure Harpenden stayed just ahead of the game. Hancock, Islam and Button all struck boundaries before falling, while Parkinson (30) - having a better day than his brother - worked hard at the other end. The visitors had done a better job at controlling the run rate, but scores were almost identical at the loss of the fifth wicket as the shadows lengthened across the turf.

A quick collapse suddenly left Saints at 9/151, with a run-a-ball needed. Kumar and Winfield raised hopes of reprising the one wicket victory over the same opposition in the corresponding fixture from 2017, until their sensible approach came to an end in the 49th over, with Saints 20 runs short.

So ended the season, with the threes finishing in sixth on the league table, a fair result in a league dominated by the top two teams; their promotion should bring renewed opportunities for St Albans to achieve the same result in 2019.

Harpenden IV Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 3w 3b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
10
195 (47.0 overs)		     
Smith ct  Walker b Button 4 1
Washington b  Price 38 4
Newton ct  Islam b Kumar 73 16
McNeil b  Walker 42 5 1
Parkinson b  Kumar 0
Hussain b  Price 0
McNeil ct  Kumar b Price 16 3
Wiles ct  Walker b Button 9 1
Gosling ct  Parkinson b Walker 0
Frost lbw  b Walker 0
Dearman Not Out  1

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Joe Button9.0041220.504.56
Moksudul Islam5.011400.002.80
Tim Winfield5.021300.002.60
Adam Murphy6.013400.005.67
Sammy Kumar9.0051225.505.67
Amy Price9.002538.332.78
Andrew Walker4.011535.003.75

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 19w 10b 3lb 
for 10 wickets
35
176		        
Harry Knill-Jones ct  - b Dearman 12 1
Steve Ferguson ct  - b Newton 19 1
David Hancock ct  - b Newton 16 3
Charlie Parkinson ct  - b Hussain 30 2 1
Moksudul Islam ct  Parkinson b Gosling 21 4 1
Joe Button b  Hussain 15 3
Amy Price b  Hussain 2
Tim Winfield b  Hussain 12
Andrew Walker ct  - b Wiles 0 2
Adam Murphy ct  - b Gosling 1
Sammy Kumar Not Out  12 1 1

Harpenden IV Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Gosling9.0032216.003.56
Dearman10.0224124.002.40
Hussain9.302546.252.63
Newton10.0329214.502.90
Wiles6.0033133.005.50
Frost4.002000.005.00
 
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