Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI v Pinner on Sat 02 Jul 2022 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Lost by 4 wickets

Match report St Albans 3s hosted Pinner, one of their key rivals in the search for promotion from Division 8A, in this, the final fixture of the first half of the season.

Both sides were keen to make their mark in what became a rather feisty encounter. Saints won the opening battle, winning the toss and electing to bat first.

Pinner, it must be said, began well with the ball. The left arm duo of Felix Hoh and Ramachandran both generated good pace while maintaining a challenging line and length. Murray succumbed early on, and Law was very quickly undone, too. Some tight decisions went against the visitors, raising the energy levels somewhat.

Neither Ralfe nor Lawrence could settle, and in the first over after the drinks break Saints found themselves 4/66 - but of course Nisar was still there, holding the innings together. Now Murphy joined him and this pair set about a recovery, against a bowling lineup that continued to make the batters work for their runs. Quick singles therefore became the order of the day, little legside taps frequently leading to runs.

Nisar was unfortunate to be given out a run short of a half century, an invaluable innings. Button was able to hit his stride quickly, adding 43 with Murphy (35no), in a run a ball knock of 23. Finally Berry, given a chance to learn on the job, acquitted himself well by striking 15 off 11 to give the run rate a little lift at the end of the innings.

178 was on the board, a bit of a scrap and only par, but the visitors left the field looking a little despondent as Saints had accumulated more than seemed possible. The 40 overs had taken a considerable time to bowl.

Berry and Button were tasked with the new ball, the latter, like most on the day, finding bowling into the wind a challenge. The Pinner pair of Dhawan and Baker played with great conviction, Baker in particular pouncing on anything short. The tally quickly rose: 57 on the board in the first 10 overs, the game racing away from Saints.

With the batsmen in the ascendency, the skipper was forced to make frequent changes in his bowling combinations, searching for a breakthrough. The team found themselves subdued by the onslaught, and some fielding lapses might have been avoided. Pinner cruised to the drinks break without a wicket down.

It was not until Button returned, this time at the top end, that the first wicket was taken, substitute fielder Wilton, on for the departed Law, taking a tremendous diving catch at mid off. 130 for 1. Button did the trick again with his next over, as he found the edge of Baker’s bat and Glazier clung on to a fine catch at slip. With both openers gone, was there a glimmer of hope? Perhaps so - Walker (3/19) collected wickets in his final three overs, the last a super legside grab by keeper Lawrence. Pinner’s nervous lineup was 152/5. Saints were now switched on in the field, with plenty of chat, on a day when there was lots of banter from both sides.

Rain now intervened, a short shower lengthened into seven minutes, and it was disappointingly agreed that two overs should be deducted from the 40, with the 38 over target now set to 170, just seven runs away. Despite Berry claiming a victim, that was pretty much it, as Pinner got home with four wickets in hand and eight balls to spare.

Although the result was disappointing, the way the team scrapped to stay in the game was commendable. But the 3s need to be a little more than that moving forward.

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 5w 11b 9lb 
for 6 wickets
29
178		        
Nauman Nisar ct Babbar b Dixit 49 134 85 6 57.65
Stuart Murray b Hoh 8 24 15 2 53.33
Rory Law ct Babbar b Hoh 0 9 9 0
Nick Ralfe b Moeeniddin 14 29 25 3 56.00
James Lawrence lbw b Langan 5 29 21 23.81 1
Adam Murphy Not Out  35 77 55 2 63.64
Alfie Button ct Babbar b Ramachandran 23 27 22 3 104.55
Lucas Berry Not Out  15 9 11 136.36
Phil Caley  
B Glazier   1
Andrew Walker   1

Pinner Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Felix Hoh8.031829.002.25
Hari Ramachandran8.0040140.005.00
Nicholas Lawrence2.001400.007.00
Salman Moeenidden8.0124124.003.00
Daniel Langan8.0022122.002.75
John Hoh3.002200.007.33
Kavit Dixit3.0018118.006.00

Pinner Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 5w 6b  
for 6 wickets
13
173 (36.4 overs)		     
Rohitesh Dhawan ct sub (Wilton) b Button 46 92 57 5 80.70
James Baker ct Glazier b Button 77 100 90 12 1 85.56
Hari Ramachandran ct Lawrence b Walker 8 25 21 1 38.10
Raj Vernekar lbw b Walker 5 3 6 83.33
Manish Babbar ct & b Walker 3 6 7 42.86
Salman Moeenidden Not Out  13 35 20 3 65.00
Kavit Dixit b Berry 4 28 13 30.77
Nicholas Lawrence Not Out  4 2 2 200
John Hoh  
Felix Hoh  
Daniel Langan  

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Lucas Berry6.4036136.005.40
Alfie Button8.0033216.504.13
Adam Murphy7.003700.005.29
Andrew Walker8.011936.332.37
B Glazier4.002200.005.50
Nick Ralfe3.002000.006.67
 
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