Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI v Bengeo CC 2nd XI on Sat 18 Jul 2026 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 4 wkts

Match report A brilliant all-round team performance saw St Albans 5XI return to winning ways with a well-deserved four-wicket victory over Bengeo CC 2nd XI at Sandpit Lane.

After winning the toss, St Albans elected to bowl first. Opening bowlers Uvanesh Paramesh and James Witty kept things tight from the start. Although they were unlucky not to take an early wicket, they bowled with great discipline on what was a batting-friendly Astro pitch.

A bowling change proved to be the turning point as skipper Imran Ahmed and Md Altaf Husain entered the attack. Imran immediately made the breakthrough, bowling both Bengeo openers for 19 and 29, before Altaf dismissed the opposition captain with his very first ball. The pair shared six wickets between them, with Imran Ahmed finishing with excellent figures of 3-24 and Md Altaf Husain claiming 3-23. Vishwa Sirwar also bowled superbly, taking 2-18, while Thomas Coulling chipped in with a wicket as Bengeo were restricted to 169/9 from their 40 overs.

In reply, St Albans made a positive start through Praveen Kumar (23) and Hugo Thomas (27), while Jonathan Harris contributed a valuable 21. Despite losing a few wickets during the middle overs, Md Altaf Husain produced a match-winning unbeaten 53 from just 45 balls, including six fours and two sixes. He was well supported by Nadeem Arif, who remained unbeaten on 20, as the pair calmly guided St Albans to victory with four wickets to spare.

It was a complete team performance. The bowling was disciplined, the batting was composed under pressure, and the fielding was outstanding. The energy and commitment in the field were excellent throughout the innings. Even without any under-18 players in the side, everyone fielded with great intensity, took their catches safely, and probably saved at least 20 runs through sharp fielding alone. That level of effort should be the minimum standard we aim for every week.

Special congratulations go to Md Altaf Husain on a memorable all-round performance. Not only did he take three wickets and score a superb match-winning fifty—his first league half-century for St Albans—but he also passed the milestone of 100 wickets for the club. A fantastic achievement, and hopefully the first of many more milestones to come. Congratulations, Altaf!

This was an important victory that keeps our season alive. Next week we travel to face Ware CC, who are currently bottom of the table. We still have an outside chance of promotion, so why not keep pushing? As we all know, cricket is a funny game and anything can happen. Let’s keep believing, keep working hard, and see where the season takes us.

Well done to everyone on a fantastic team effort!

Bengeo CC 2nd XI Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 14w 13b 6lb 
for 9 wickets
34
169 (40.0 overs)		     
Mike Freeman b  I Ahmed 19
Matt Seeley b  I Ahmed 29
John Wallis ct  H Thomas b T Coulling 15
Ian Ruskin b  A Husain 0
Gareth Amer ct  I Ahmed b V Sirwar 28
Martin Fishburn ct  N Arif b I Ahmed 0
Finlay Simpson b  V Sirwar 22
James Price ct  A Rehber b A Husain 8
Rufus Crow b  A Husain 2
Jacob Cussens Not Out  6
Daniel Milson Not Out  6

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Uvanesh Paramesh6.002500.004.17
James Witty4.001900.004.75
Md Altaf Husain7.002337.673.29
Imran Ahmed8.022438.003.00
Thomas Coulling4.0020120.005.00
Nadeem Arif3.001400.004.67
Ali Rehber3.00700.002.33
Vishwa Sirwar5.001829.003.60

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 3w 1b 1lb 
for 6 wickets
6
170		        
Praveen Kumar ct  Unsure b F Simpson 23 34 3 67.65
Vishwa Sirwar ct  Unsure b J Cussens 12 25 2 48.00
Hugo Thomas ct  Unsure b F Simpson 27 20 6 135.00 1
Jonathan Harris b  F Simpson 21 21 3 100
Imran Ahmed ct  G Amer b F Simpson 4 3 1 133.33 1
Md Altaf Husain Not Out  53 45 6 2 117.78
Ali Rehber b  R Crow 4 9 44.44 1
Nadeem Arif Not Out  20 22 3 90.91 1
Thomas Coulling  
James Witty  
Uvanesh Paramesh  

Bengeo CC 2nd XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
James Price7.012600.003.71
Daniel Milson4.003100.007.75
Jacob Cussens4.0024124.006.00
Finlay Simpson5.412847.004.94
Martin Fishburn5.003200.006.40
Rufus Crow2.0019119.009.50
Ian Ruskin2.01800.004.00