Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI v Luton Town & Indians IV on Sat 22 Aug 2020 at 12:30
St Albans Cricket Club Won by 120 runs

Match report With the previous weekend’s fixture lost to rain, Hertfordshire League matches returned on a windy Saturday afternoon. In this unusual season, Luton Town & Indians have been denied the use of their second ground, so Saints gladly welcomed the club’s fourth XI to Sandpit Lane instead.

A surprise downpour preceded the toss, which Walker duly won, electing to bat first.

Parkinson’s early departure, to a loose waft outside off, did not make for a good start. However this brought Hussain to the wicket, and his good eye and quick hands moved the score along quickly. After smashing a short ball for six, it was a surprise to see a mistake next ball, and he departed for a quick 27. This brought together Tarrant and Islam, who then played beautifully in a partnership worth 96 runs. From the start Islam, who has struggled at times this season, was seeing the ball well, with excellent shot selection. Tarrant was playing a fine hand as opener, solid in defence, and putting away the poor deliveries, which were increasingly frequent as Luton Town & Indians searched for the right bowling options.

The total had reached 134 before Islam was adjudged LBW for 45, a fine knock. Tarrant was heading towards a milestone, several times shots applauded from the boundary, appearing to signal the achievement of a half century to the batsman. It was a shame then that Tarrant fell for an excellent 48, just short of that milestone, but regardless a knock to be proud of. The visiting home team finished a little ragged in the field, undermined from the start by being a man down due to a late call-up. Melling contributed a good 25 not out and Saints finished with an above par tally of 188 in their 40 overs.

It’s fair to say that the visitors had betrayed some inexperience in the field - would it be the same when they batted? The wicket, although slow, was showing the benefit of having a diligent groundsman’s attention, so Saints needed to bowl with good control.

Sims opened up and quickly generated good pace to beat the bat on numerous occasions, even as no ball calls threatened to undermine him. While he finished wicketless, he deserved better. Toiling into the wind at the other end, Winfield (2/23) secured the first wicket, finding considerable movement in the air and his usual relentless length. Luton Town suffered a blow when Khiani, who was stroking the ball confidently, pulled up lame - a request to allow a runner was accepted, though inevitably the three way running led to a mix up and a run out.

Saunders meanwhile had dropped onto his usual line and length - eventually even finding some swing - and took the important wicket of opposition skipper Dalvi on the way to the fine figures of 2/13. Lawrence was having an excellent day behind the stumps; having done well with the early run out, he then contributed a swift stumping off Walker, and added a third dismissal as he intelligently met a throw from Islam to trigger a second run out. So often a wicketkeeper’s good work goes unnoticed, but here Lawrence’s actions were decisive and destructive. Finally, Parkinson was given a chance to redeem his innocuous game when he was thrown the ball - and this he did with two proper wickets, both bowled, as his legspinners gripped for 2/6.

In the end this was a very comfortable victory for St Albans, a third win in a row. Well played team.

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
8nb 8w 15b 1lb 
for 8 wickets
32
188		        
Zachary Tarrant b Saif 48 6
Charlie Parkinson ct - b Dalvi 1
Humayune Hussain ct - b 27 3 1
Moksudul Islam lbw b Shah 45 4 1
Peter Melling Not Out  25 2
Alfie Button b Shah 6
James Lawrence lbw b Shah 0 1 2
George Sims b Arshdeep 0
Andrew Walker b Arshdeep 4
Tim Winfield   1
Andy Saunders  

Luton Town & Indians IV Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Arshdeep8.0035311.674.38
Dalvi8.0125125.003.12
Khiani8.002500.003.12
Shah8.012839.333.50
Chadrana2.001300.006.50
Saleem2.001800.009.00
Sansaleem4.0024124.006.00

Luton Town & Indians IV Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
5nb 6w 2b 3lb 
for 10 wickets
16
68 (28.0 overs)		     
Khiani run out Winfield/Lawrence 27 1 1
Rai b Winfield 1
Saleem, S b Saunders 10 1
Saleem, A b Winfield 0
Khalid st Lawrence b Walker 0
Dalvi lbw b Saunders 0
Chandana Not Out  13 2
Shah run out Islam/Lawrence 1
Saif Saleem b Parkinson 0
Arshdeep b Parkinson 0
-  

St Albans Cricket Club 3XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
George Sims6.001400.002.33
Tim Winfield8.0223211.502.88
Andy Saunders6.021326.502.17
Andrew Walker5.02717.001.40
Charlie Parkinson2.00623.003.00
Alfie Button1.00200.002.00
 
Photos and video of St Albans Cricket Club 3XI v Luton Town & Indians IV on Sat 22 Aug 2020 at 12:30

2020-08-22_Luton_Town_and_Indians_IV_v_St_Albans_III_(innings 1)

2020-08-22 Luton Town and Indians IV v St Albans III Innings of St Albans

2020-08-22_Luton_Town_and_Indians_IV_v_St_Albans_III_(innings 2)

2020-08-22 Luton Town and Indians IV v St Albans III Innings of Luton Town and Indians