Scorecard

Old Cholmeleians CC 2nd XI v St Albans Cricket Club 4XI on Sat 15 Aug 2026 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Lost by 14 runs

Match report St Albans 4XI were left to rue a missed opportunity on Saturday as an excellent bowling performance was followed by a disappointing display with the bat in a 15-run defeat away to Old Cholmeleians 2XI.
Conditions certainly played their part. The pitch was of poor quality and made fluent strokeplay difficult throughout, with inconsistent bounce contributing to a low-scoring contest. Nevertheless, having dismissed Old Cholmeleians for just 133 in 37.1 overs, Saints will feel this was a game they had put themselves in an excellent position to win.

Old Cholmeleians made a reasonable start, with Asad Nisiri scoring 28, Imran Afridi 21 and Muhammad Ahmad 25, but the Saints attack kept chipping away and never allowed the home side to build a decisive partnership.
Andrew Walker was excellent during his eight-over spell, taking 2-29, while Ethan Witty bowled particularly economically, conceding just 15 from six overs, including two maidens. The real damage came later in the innings through Andy Saunders and Tim Winfield. Saunders returned figures of 4-20 from eight overs, while Winfield ran through the lower order with 3-19 from 5.1 overs as Old Cholmeleians were bowled out with nearly three overs of their allocation unused. It was an excellent collective effort in difficult conditions and, with only 134 required for victory, Saints had every reason to feel confident at the halfway stage.

Unfortunately, the chase never developed the momentum required.

Sam Davey provided the one substantial contribution at the top of the order, making 33 from 44 balls, but wickets fell too regularly around him. Peter Melling and Daiwik Khedekar both made eight before Moksudul Islam and Jamie Coffer departed without scoring. Old Cholmeleians bowled effectively on a surface well suited to defending a low total, although the second innings was played in a slightly fractious atmosphere. Frequent and enthusiastic appealing from the home side, combined with a notably slow over-rate, made for a stop-start chase and added to the frustrations as Saints attempted to build partnerships.

That, however, shouldn't disguise the central reason for the defeat. Saints simply didn't score enough runs.

Ethan Witty dug in for 37 balls and Andrew Walker offered some late resistance with 15, while Tim Winfield made 12 from 37 balls. With nine wickets down, Winfield was joined by Andy Saunders for the final-wicket partnership, and the pair kept alive faint hopes of an unlikely victory as Saints edged closer to their target. In the end, though, Winfield became one final victim of the difficult surface. A ball that kept notably low trapped him LBW, ending the innings with Saints 15 runs short of victory on 119 and bringing a frustrating afternoon to a close.

Old Cholmeleians' Farooq Khan proved the decisive bowler, taking 4-14 from eight overs, including four maidens, with Shaz Butt adding 3-37.

It was a frustrating defeat precisely because of how well the 4XI had bowled. On a difficult pitch, restricting the opposition to 133 represented an excellent day's work and should have provided the platform for victory. But low run chases still require patience and partnerships. Saints lost wickets at crucial moments and were unable to find the one substantial innings that would almost certainly have swung the match their way.

Despite back-to-back defeats, the bigger picture remains positive. St Albans are already safe from relegation, and with their place in the division secured, the remaining matches provide an opportunity to rediscover some winning form and finish what has been a competitive season on a positive note.

After the quality of Saturday's bowling performance, there is certainly plenty for the 4XI to build on. The challenge now is to match that with the bat and turn good positions into victories before the season draws to a close.

Old Cholmeleians CC 2nd XI Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
9w 1b  
for 10 wickets
10
133 (37.1 overs)		     
Asad Nisiri b  A Walker 28 45 6 62.22
Tom Halstead ct  Melling b A Husain 6 17 1 35.29
Imran Afridi ct  Islam b A Walker 21 21 3 1 100
Muhammad Ahmad ct  Unsure b A Saunders 25 55 5 45.45
Muhammad Usman ct  Davey b A Saunders 19 30 4 63.33
Mani Khalique ct  Islam b A Saunders 8 23 1 34.78
Munir Ahmed ct  Islam b T Winfield 12 13 2 92.31
Farooq Khan b  A Saunders 2 7 28.57
Josh Pullinger lbw  T Winfield 0 3 0
James Wilder ct  Islam b T Winfield 2 8 25.00
Shaz Butt Not Out  0 2 0

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Md Altaf Husain4.0031131.007.75
Uvanesh Paramesh5.021700.003.40
Ethan Witty6.021500.002.50
Andrew Walker8.0129214.503.63
Andy Saunders8.002045.002.50
Tim Winfield5.111936.333.68
Sam Davey1.00100.001.00

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
8w 10b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
20
119		        
Sam Davey b  S Butt 33 44 4 75.00 1
Peter Melling ct  Unsure b F Khan 8 26 1 30.77 1
Daiwik Khedekar b  F Khan 8 8 1 100
Moksudul Islam lbw  F Khan 0 2 0 4
Jamie Coffer b  S Butt 0 3 0
Ethan Witty ct  Unsure b M Ahmad 8 37 1 21.62
Uvanesh Paramesh b  S Butt 6 7 1 85.71
Md Altaf Husain b  F Khan 4 8 1 50.0
Andrew Walker b  A Nisiri 15 31 3 48.39
Tim Winfield lbw  M Ahmed 12 37 2 32.43
Andy Saunders Not Out  5 13 1 38.46

Old Cholmeleians CC 2nd XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Muhammad Usman6.001800.003.00
Muhammad Ahmad8.0225125.003.12
Shaz Butt8.0037312.334.62
Farooq Khan8.041443.501.75
Munir Ahmed1.51515.002.73
Asad Nisiri4.02818.002.00