Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI v Abbots Langley 4th XI on Sat 28 May 2022 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 7 Wickets

Match report Against the backdrop of a Champions League final that evening which Frank O’Leary was desperate to make with plenty of time to spare, the Club XI won the toss on the Astroturf pitch at SLCG and chose to field.

Sri Harshith Yendapally opened splendidly, taking a wicket in each of his first two overs, and was ably supported by Tom Townend (0-14), Sud Suryavanshi (0-18) and O’Leary (0-14) who were unfortunate not to take wickets of their own. The 3rd wicket partnership was growing in strength however, and so the spinners of Naz Islam and Fin McNab were given a few overs before drinks. The batsmen took the bait, and although they cleared the boundary a few times, the 85 run partnership was finally broken the ball before drinks with McNab taking the wicket.

The opener still remained however, so Alfie Button was brought on to partner with McNab and immediately had the batsmen caught behind. The umpire, who had clearly done his umpiring courses (earlier correctly signalling one short) failed to give the wicket but the opener walked. A very sporting gesture as he was only a few runs short of his 50. The partnership of Button and McNab then flourished, both taking catches off their own bowling and Button taking a sharp catch off McNab while in close on the leg side. McNab ended with 3-32 from his 6 overs.

Matt Shadwick and Barnaby Amess came on to try and wrap up the tail and took a wicket apiece, ending with 1-7 and 1-23 respectively. Sri (2-11) and Button (2-18) were brought back for the final few overs but despite some tight bowling their number 11 survived and Abbots Langley ended with 161-9 off their 40 overs. The fielding had been excellent, far beyond usual Club XI standards, with 8 catches taken from 10 chances, and the two drops from very difficult opportunities.

Button and Shadwick opened the chase, and both carried through their bowling performances into their batting. Button in particular looked fluent, and after a careful opening both started to open up and were going along nicely, ahead of the required rate. Button brought up his half century with a hook that just dropped over the boundary flag for a 6, but was unfortunate to drag onto his own stumps next ball, ending with 51 off 52 balls. The platform had been set by an opening partnership of 93, and Naz joined Shadwick to navigate some (very) loopy leg spin. After a few further boundaries, Shadwick somehow contrived to tickle a pull through to the keeper, but ended with a very credible 34.

That brought out debut skipper Tom Cocks to the crease, and a 6 off his first ball set the mood as St Albans raced to the finish post. Naz was unfortunate to be caught in the covers and finished with 27 off 16 balls, but John Webber (11* off 10 balls) and Cocks (23* off 15) saw the side home with 7 wickets and 11 overs to spare.

A shoutout for specialist umpire Ciaràn Walsh, who turned up after work just to take the field for 18 overs and throw his usual energy into his scoring signals.

Player of the Match: Alfie Button - A true all round performance with 51 runs, 2-18 and 3 catches

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 13w  
for 3 wickets
17
163		        
Matt Shadwick ct Kai 34
Alfie Button ct Aarav 51
md nazmul islam ct Glyn 27
Tom Cocks Not Out  23
John Webber Not Out  11
Alfie Button  
Frank O'Leary  
Sri Harshith Yendapally  
Matt Shadwick  
Sudhanshu Suryavanshi  
Fin McNab  

Abbots Langley 4th XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Charles4.001400.003.50
Kieran4.001800.004.50
Rob4.001500.003.75
Jack4.002300.005.75
Aarav4.0024124.006.00
Kai3.0029129.009.67
Glyn3.0022122.007.33
Pradeep3.001700.005.67

Abbots Langley 4th XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 11w 5b  
for 9 wickets
20
161 (40.0 overs)		     
Pradeep ct Button 43
Rob ct Yendapally 4
Jack ct Yendapally 1
Sev ct McNab 28
Kieran ct McNab 0
Charles ct Button 8
Aarav ct McNab 6
Anil ct Amess 9
Glyn Not Out  30
Gino b Shadwick 0
Kai Not Out  5

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Sri Harshith Yendapally6.001125.501.83
Tom Townend4.001400.003.50
Sudhanshu Suryavanshi4.001800.004.50
Frank O'Leary4.001400.003.50
md nazmul islam2.002100.0010.50
Fin McNab6.0132310.675.33
Alfie Button6.001829.003.00
Matt Shadwick4.00717.001.75