Hemel Hempstead V v St Albans Cricket Club 4XI on Sat 22 Jun 2002 at 1:30
St Albans Cricket Club Won St Albans win by 2 wickets (30 pts - HH v
Another fine win for the St Albans side who regain top spot in the division following a win against 3rd place Hemel Hempstead. having lost the toss the St Albans side were asked to field and opened with Uzman and Tim Fretter. Tim Fretter had the opening bat dropped by Adam Bhanjee in his first over before he had scored a run. This was to prove costly as he went on to make 82 further runs. This was despite four chances that he gave, one of which was a catch at the wicket.
Uzman made the breakthough in his 3rd over and from then on wickets fell at regular intervals. The St Albans side always kept the lid on the scoring rate and despite giving about 30 runs to many, they were always in with a chance. The wicket was uneven and variable in bounce and made playing shots a lottery.
It was nice to see David Haygate finding form with the ball, as he took three late wickets to finish off the innings.
St Albans didn't start off too well with J Fretter being bowled by a ball that didn't bounce at all. David Coombs fell the very next ball as he edged to slip. This was made worse when the in form Pat Sylvester went for just 3, when he hit the ball straight to mid off. Sylvester may well have now hanged himself, as he did not appear back at the club for after match drinks. I don't know if this has anything to do with the fact he was out having been a victim of a 14 yrs old GIRL. ( Ed. Having said that, she was a decent bowler.) But to get out to a girl ??!!
Anyway, the St Albans side were 9-3 off just 4 overs and staring defeat....
Richard Williams hit a fine 67, despite being dropped on three occasions (by the player who had three chances and scored 82 himself) and took the St Albans side well towards their target with some big hits to the boundary. However with wickets falling at the other end it was becoming tense. (Where was Colin Murphy when you really needed him....) When Williams finally was bowled for 67 it appeared that the tide had swung back to Hemel
Enter captain Adrain Hallchurch (13no) who was joined by Adam Bhanjee (24no) and only needing less then 2 runs an over they saw off the total with 2 wickets to spare and over 10 overs remaining. With the Hemel side now in a state of panic, they calmly found the gaps in the field which were assisted by a few extras. (20 byes & 10 wides & 7 no balls).
Let hope the side can continue to push for promotion which will only come from good availability and team spirit.
Good luck next week against Letchworth V's
St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Batting
164 for 8
Hemel Hempstead V Bowling
Hemel Hempstead V Batting
163 for 10
St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Bowling