Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI v Luton Town & Indians IV on Sat 10 Jul 2021 at 12:00 midday
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 8 wickets

Match report On another murky July afternoon, Saints were back at Sandpit Lane for their fixture with Luton Town & Indians. Covers had kept the worst of the rain off the wicket, with a brief delay agreed for the start time.

This delay suited Saints, who typically had a few stragglers, arriving much later than the requested time, none more so than one Joey Curran, who was being given the run around by his barber. Not ideal on a Saturday morning. Not ideal when your team is asked to field first either.

Yes, Walker had lost the toss once again, but regardless got his way, as LT&I chose to bat first. Aside from being a fieldsman down at the beginning, Curran's late arrival had denied the team a natural opening bowler. Casting his eyes around the dressing room, the skipper noted West and anointed him as the replacement. Granted this unexpected opportunity to display his other skill, West rose to the occasion, finding the right line and good pace from the first over, and was rewarded with the first wicket of the day.

A couple of overs later, West again found his way through the batters’ defences to achieve consecutive positive responses to vociferous LBW appeals from the bowler, though largely unsupported by his teammates. With a significant gash torn in the Luton Town batting, things were nicely set up for the hattrick ball, with the field set aggressively in support. West charged in, the batsman pushed forward tentatively, with the ball drifting towards the onrushing bowler. Surely an easy catch? Afraid not, as West got both hands to the return offering, only to see the hattrick slip through his fingers. Still, an opening spell of 7/4/8/3 was a great return for the paceman.

At the other end, Winfield nicked in for a wicket, and was followed into the attack by Rajani, who continued to give the batsmen no quarter, also adding to the wicket tally.

Meanwhile, Curran had finally arrived with his fresh haircut, hidden under a sun hat. Had it really been worth the trouble? In any case, he now got his own chance to terrorise the visiting batsmen with his good pace, nabbing a brace in his first over. Rarely can an incoming batsman have arrived at the wicket with so many close catchers in place - at least in Division 8A - as Saints had the opposition at 7/31.

Well on top, Saints didn’t quite grasp the nettle at this point, as the visitors dug in, either unwilling or, more likely, unable to score runs - but neither could Saints grab the necessary wickets, with a few lapses in the field and frustration mounting. Malik nabbed 2 for 5, but found the “Test Match” batting particularly galling, and only a change to Ralfe yielded the final wicket. Fair credit to the batsmen for their patient efforts, too.

An all out tally of 70 was nothing to write home about, though the difficulties in polishing off the innings is not something that Saints will want to struggle with in upcoming fixtures.

Nisar and Murray set about the chase confidently, though it was a shame to see Nisar lose his wicket to a good, and apparently first ever, catch to the point fieldsman (where else?). Murray and Ralfe quickly ticked the score over, pouncing on poor balls. Murray was out for 28 with victory just a stroke away - and so it was that Malik arrived and powerfully hoisted his third ball high and mightily over the boundary to pass the visitors’ total.

A very comfortable victory completed, Saints season continues to build momentum. Next up, a clash with the current ladder leader, Little Berkhamsted Sahibs.

Luton Town & Indians IV Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
9w 1b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
12
70 (39.1 overs)		     
Soni b  West 2
Pankhaniya ct  Curran b Rajani 23 3
Dalvi lbw  b West 0
Amjad lbw  b West 0
Desai ct  Rajani b Winfield 0
Patel ct  Murray b Curran 6 1
Islam Not Out  15 1
Alam b  Curran 0
Patel b  Malik 7 1
Basit b  Malik 0
Siyodra ct  Rajani b Ralfe 5 1

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Zach West9.041434.671.56
Tim Winfield6.0221121.003.50
Amit Rajani7.0111111.001.57
Joey Curran6.021025.001.67
Andrew Walker5.03400.000.80
Saqib Malik5.00522.501.00
Nick Ralfe1.10111.000.86

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 6w 1lb 
for 2 wickets
8
72		        
Nauman Nisar ct  - b Basit 7
Stuart Murray ct  - b Izlam 28 2 1
Nick Ralfe Not Out  23 4
Saqib Malik Not Out  6 1
Humayune Hussain  
Zach West  
Thomas Rayden  
Amit Rajani   2
Joey Curran   1
Andrew Walker  
Tim Winfield  

Luton Town & Indians IV Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Amjad3.001500.005.00
Dalvi1.00100.001.00
Basit2.0015115.007.50
Izlam5.0112112.002.40
Alam2.001700.008.50
Patel2.001100.005.50
 
Photos and video of St Albans Cricket Club 3XI v Luton Town & Indians IV on Sat 10 Jul 2021 at 12:00 midday

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2021-07-10 St Albans III v Luton Town and Indians IV Innings of Luton Town and Indians

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2021-07-10 St Albans III v Luton Town and Indians IV Innings of St Albans

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2021-07-10 St Albans III v Luton Town and Indians IV Stuart Murray faces opposition skipper Mushtaq Dalvi at Verulam School Sports Fields