Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI v Tewin 2XI on Sat 25 May 2024 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 118

Match report Most of my match reports read more like War & Peace, but this one could be summarised in just six words; Don’t Go Back at Sandpit Lane.

St Albans 4th XI returned to Sandpit Lane for the second successive week with the midweek deluge of rain promising a soft surface that looked tough for the batsman. The mighty 4s would bat first against a Tewin 2nd XI who looked the part, most sporting a yellow and black baggy hat which gave off the impression of being a gun team.

It would be a tough start to the St Albans innings with openers Nisar and Ahmed tasked with laying the foundations for the innings. Ahmed clearly decided that those foundations could take the shape of many aggressive shots and, hoping to take the attack to the bowlers, he proceeded to swing from ball one. This aggression may not have had the intended consequence, Ahmed being caught early in the innings.

So came together the match defining partnership, Dean (The Elder and Best Dean) and Nisar, a pair as familiar as Broad & Anderson or Strauss & Cook. The pair played sensibly, taking ones and twos where possible, and over time began to build a steady partnership. It was not without worry, at times the pair’s running causing anxiety to the onlookers, but on the whole they were able to nudge and nurdle for the next 15 overs unscathed. With drinks approaching and the first change bowlers introduced both Dean and Nisar began to pick off the bad ball, adding boundaries to their solid accumulation. Drinks came with the score on 70/1, foundation laid.

After drinks the acceleration continued, boundaries came more frequently, running became less stress inducing, and overall the St Albans team were content with their position. Nisar would be run out with the score just under 100, having batted supremely well on his way to the 40s. It was great to see the return of a confident Manny, his cut shot back, and some lovely shots through the covers. Dean would bring up his 50 soon after, having displayed great patience and beginning to attack the weaker Tewin bowling. At the other end Dean had been joined by Khan, who looked to build on the foundations by playing aggressive shots against the bad ball, and he did so with success, the score moving towards 150.

Dean would be removed not long after scoring his 50, bringing Damle to the crease, Khan and Damle displaying some wonderful hitting even on the tough surface, both of whom would have gone on to big scores given more time. With only a few overs to go, wickets did start to fall, with Deshpande, Vijender & Davey all coming and going without really troubling the scorers. (This is a slight lie, the quick wickets falling meaning no one was left who could score on the new PlayCricket technology, so scorers were troubled in more ways than one). The St Albans innings ending on 185, a daunting score on a bowling wicket.

George, on the back of a 5th XI 5fer, and Dean, not looking to be shown up by his son being promoted to the 3s, took the new ball with some serious points to prove. From the start the pair were accurate, pacey and looked to use the wicket to full effect to take Tewin wickets. The crowd wouldn’t have to wait long for the first, George dismantling the stumps of the opener in only the second over. And after that wickets began to fall at regular intervals, the openers seemingly in competition with each other to see who could get 5 wickets first. First, George would upend the batsman’s stumps with searing pace, then, in the following over, Dean would respond by deceiving the batsman with a slower ball, to the delight of his onlooking teammates. This repeated for the first 7 wickets, yes, that’s seven wickets. Three Tewin batsman would be deceived by the Dean “Best Slower Ball in the Club”, and 3 others would be bowled by George. At no point during this did any Tewin batter warn another of either the slower ball, or the fact it might stay low from the bottom end.

With the team fully backing George and Dean to take all ten wickets, neither was quite able to complete the 5fer they’d looked so likely to get. George ending with figures of 8-1-30-1 and Dean 8-1-23-4, brilliant spells from both bowlers. Brought on to replace them were Vijender and Damle, and both bowled well, with Vijender claiming the remaining three wickets with delightful swinging deliveries. Tewin bowled out for 67, E. Xtras top scorer with 12.

30 Points claimed for the 4s, who will certainly face tougher tests than the haphazard Tewin batting line up, but a strong win nevertheless. Dean and Nisar deserve considerable plaudits for their patience in batting, laying the foundations that won the game. Khan and Damle for their acceleration of the run rate on a good pitch. Finally, Dean, George and Vijender all take deserved credit for brilliant bowling.

(Match report by Sam Davey)


St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 12w 5b 2lb 
for 9 wickets
20
185		        
Nauman Nisar run out  (R Pugh) 39 77 4 50.65
Imran Ahmed ct R Pugh b S Orchard 4 13 30.77
Ashish Dean ct A Fortune b S Hayward 50 70 4 1 71.43
Najib Khan ct P Brooks b R Pugh 1 1 100
Andy Saunders  
Sam Davey   1
Prathamesh Deshpande  
Uttam Vijender  
Hugo Thomas  
Jithin Kalarickal George  
Gurudatta Damle  

Tewin 2XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jon Ferdenzi7.003100.004.43
Sam Orchard8.002646.503.25
Ismeth Salim5.001200.002.40
Marcus Hill8.004200.005.25
Russell Pugh7.0028214.004.00
Sam Hayward5.0019119.003.80

Tewin 2XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
7nb 1w 4b  
for 9 wickets
12
67 (22.0 overs)		     
Chris Sage lbw J George 0 2 0
Marcus Hill b J George 9 11 81.82
Aidan Fortune lbw A Dean 0 15 0
Ben Sheppard ct S Davey b A Dean 11 15 1 1 73.33
Sam Orchard b A Dean 6 11 54.55
Sam Hayward b A Dean 2 6 33.33
Peter Brooks b J George 4 3 1 133.33
James Conlon b U Vijender 11 26 1 42.31
Ismeth Salim b U Vijender 4 25 16.00
Jon Ferdenzi Not Out  1 11 9.09
Russell Pugh lbw U Vijender 11 14 2 78.57

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ashish Dean8.012345.752.88
Jithin Kalarickal George8.0130310.003.75
Uttam Vijender3.00431.331.33
Gurudatta Damle3.02600.002.00