Scorecard

Hatfield Hyde 3XI v St Albans Cricket Club 4XI on Sat 14 May 2022 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 9 wickets

Match report St. Albans Skin Hatfield’s Hyde!

St. Albans 4XI travelled to The King George V Playing Fields to play Hatfield Hyde 3XI on game week two of the 2022 season. After a three wicket loss to St. Margaretsbury 3XI last week, Saints had to respond with a victory.

With regular skipper Andy Saunders embarking down Wembley Way to watch his beloved Chelsea drown in devastating defeat Nauman ‘Mani’ Nisar was charged with the task of rallying the troops for this must win fixture. The King George V pitch, resembling a minefield like that of the 38th Parallel, encouraged gun batsman Mani to elect to bat. But he lost the toss, much to the delight of young seamer Lucas Berry.

The boys entered the field, consumed in buoyant spirits after a rousing team talk from Mani. A blend of young blood & experienced heads craving the taste of a first win of the season. Mani placed his faith in young prospects Nathan Kleiner-Mann & Lucas Berry to deliver the new ball. And, oh boy did Mani’s faith reap the rewards.

Nathan & Lucas led a scintillating onslaught on Hatfield’s opening batsman. Both opening bats looked shaky on the unpredictable surface facing Lucas’s & Nathan’s pace. It was only a matter of time for the youngsters to draw first blood from their opponents.

And it was Lucas who struck first, clean bowling Yash Shah with an excellent delivery. Then, the following over, Nathan joined in on the act removing Dileep Patel with Prathamesh ‘PD’ Depande taking a nice catch in the covers. It was a well-executed plan from Nathan as he had aimed to entice Patel with the drive. Lucas would then snare three more wickets in his next two overs (all bowled). The sun was out & the Saints were basking in it.

The youngsters were then rested to allow experienced hands, Nadeem Arif & PD, to begin grinding down on Hatfield’s middle order. Nadeem ripped in a superb delivery to catch out Hatfield’s danger man, Rupang Mistry, LBW. Mani then chucked the ball back to Lucas so he could secure his five wicket haul. However, Lucas had other plans and despatched the rest of Hatfield’s batters to finish with seven for 11 off seven & a half overs (and narrowly missing out on two hattricks during his spell).

PD got the last wicket with a sharp run out after some lacklustre running from Hatfield’s tail-enders. Hatfield were all out for 59 off 25.3 overs with extras top scoring at 26 runs. Setting Saints a target of 60 to win.

Mani & James Grant opened Saints’ run chase & started ferociously with Mani slapping the first ball away for four. Mani & James combined well, with Mani batting aggressively & James keeping it calm & composed. The boys kept the scoreboard ticking with excellent running between the wickets.

Unfortunately, Mani succumbed to his attacking batting style & was bowled by Shah after securing 15 runs off 13 balls. But not to fear, in strolled Najib Khan and with some fantastic stroke-play & great running; Najib (17 off 23) & James (19 off 40) guided Saints to an emphatic, nine wicket victory (with 60 runs off 12.5 overs).

It was a tremendous display from Saints; everyone played their part with top-notch batting, bowling, fielding & keeping from all involved. Though the main plaudits must go to Lucas for his man of the match display, and all doing so after making himself captain for this week’s round of fantasy cricket. Hopefully Saints can maintain the momentum and bring a winning ethos back to Sandpit Lane for next week’s fixture against bitter, local rivals: Old Albanians 4XI!

Hatfield Hyde 3XI Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
5nb 3w 12b 3lb 
for 10 wickets
23
59 (25.3 overs)		     
D. Patel ct  Kleiner-Mann 1
Y. Shah b  Berry 0
M. Patel b  Berry 0
R. Mistry lbw  Arif 17
A. Carter b  Berry 0
M. Davies b  Berry 1
N. Vashada b  Berry 7
C. Patel ct  Berry 6
F. Choudary b  Berry 0
A. Pikesley Not Out  0
R. Gaskell Run out  1

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Nathan Kleiner-Mann5.03919.001.80
Lucas Berry7.321171.571.47
Nadeem Arif8.0113113.001.62
Prathamesh Deshpande5.021200.002.40

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
3w 4b 2lb 
for 1 wickets
9
60		        
Nauman Nisar b  Shah 15
James Grant Not Out  20
Najib Khan Not Out  17
Lucas Berry  
Nathan Kleiner-Mann  
Alfie Button  
Prathamesh Deshpande  
Tom Townend  
Nadeem Arif  
Prath Khatavkar  
A.N. Other  

Hatfield Hyde 3XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Y. Shah6.0128128.004.67
F. Choudary3.00700.002.33
M. Patel3.001700.005.67
A . Pikesley0.50200.002.40