Scorecard

Watford Town IV v St Albans Cricket Club 4XI on Sat 24 Jun 2017 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Lost by 5 wickets

Match report A decent total of 190 wasn't enough to save the 4XI from defeat against bottom of the table Watford as the opposition chased it down with 5 balls to spare .

The toss was lost and Saints batted first. Manny Nisar and brother Faz opening the batting , the former starting aggressively with two classy boundaries before a loose drive against a ball nipping back off the seam did for him. Faz was joined by Andy Loe who played his usual gritty , obdurate innings in support before being caught shortly after passing double figures. Faz rode his luck but crafted a hard earned half century before the wrong shot selection saw him depart on 51. Jithin Sasi and Michael Martin both hit the ball hard in their cameos and John Webber's short stay at the crease heralded the arrival of the always fired up Jim Everdell. Skipper Andy Saunders and Craig Roseman added 9 runs between them before number 11 Sammy Kumar came to the crease. A moment of controversy over a claimed run out saw the on-field atmosphere turn decidedly sour, particularly as the free scoring Everdell and the maturely watchful Kumar put on a splendid partnership of 46 for the last wicket before Everdell was finally caught on the boundary for an impressive 40.

190 posted at tea then, a good effort on a bone dry, quirky pitch . Belligerent and accusatory opposition not withstanding it was a good tea.

Everdell and Jon Little opened the bowling for Saints and it was clear that the opposition were going to go for it from the off, no doubt fired up by a sense of injustice. On a lightning fast outfield the ball sped away for boundaries and extras were an issue throughout the innings with 25 conceded overall , 14 of them byes. Roseman finally prised out the opening batsman on 26 but his partner was looking ominously set. It proved to be the case as he went on to make a match-winning, chanceless 89 before falling at the death to Everdell. Nobody bowled particularly badly, we could have bowled better line and length on occasion perhaps and although a few catches went down it wasn't those that cost us the game as inevitably those batsmen went soon after being put down. Saunders and Faz bowled a decent spell in the middle of the innings to pin the batsmen down for a while but they were always up with the run rate and although Saunders took a wicket and both Everdell and Little had late success (and bowled some fabulous death overs between them) it wasn't enough and Watford held their nerve to score the winning run with 5 balls to spare.

We'll all reflect I'm sure on a good , hard game of league cricket with handshakes all round afterwards , the earlier confrontations put down to passion and a desire to win and forgotten. A disappointing result though as it was a winnable game that ultimately slipped through our fingers.


St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 4w 20b 6lb 
for 10 wickets
31
190		        
Nauman Nisar b D. Khan 8
Faizan Nisar ct J. Peppett 51
Andy Loe ct U. Ahmed 11
Jithin Sasi ct J. Peppett 9
Michael Martin ct J. Peppett 22
John Webber b J. Peppett 3
James Everdell ct C. Knight 40
Jon Little b P .Sarathia 4
Andy Saunders lbw P. Sarathia 5
Craig Roseman b P. Sarathia 2
Sammy Kumar Not Out  4

Watford Town IV Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
J. Peppett8.012446.003.00
D. Khan 8.002800.003.50
C . Knight7.2034134.004.64
U. Ahmed5.0041141.008.20
P Sarathia 8.0030310.003.75
J. Crosdil 2.001500.007.50

Watford Town IV Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 8w 18b  
for 5 wickets
28
191 (39.1 overs)		     
Paresh b Everdell 89
Bilal b Roseman 26
Ahmed ct Saunders 28
Kiru ct Everdell 12
Prasad b Little 7
Danny Not Out  2
Crosdil Not Out  0
   
   
   
   

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
James Everdell8.0124212.003.00
Jon Little8.0033133.004.13
Craig Roseman5.0023123.004.60
Sammy Kumar5.003500.007.00
Andy Saunders5.0024124.004.80
Faizan Nisar6.002300.003.83
Andy Loe2.001400.007.00