Scorecard

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI v Pinner CC 3rd XI on Sat 31 May 2025 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Lost By 6 wickets

Match report On a perfect afternoon for cricket, Pinner 3rd arrived at Sandpit Lane for their league fixture, accompanied by their own "elite" umpire. The home side were eager to recapture the form they showed at SLCG last season, hoping to turn around a string of recent disappointing results.

Pinner won the toss and chose to bowl first—an unexpected decision, especially considering they were 2–3 players short at the start. Their captain and a few others arrived late, and they requested the match begin at 1:15 PM.
After a warm, even hot, week the pitch was dry and promising. Saints openers Maroof and Matt settled in well. Maroof played with a positive intent while Matt played sensibly, rotating the strike and punishing loose deliveries. The pair took the score to 50 without loss in 12 overs.

However, Matt was then caught behind for 12—a highly questionable decision from the visiting umpire, with many feeling he wasn’t out. Alim joined Maroof at the crease and began playing some elegant strokes. Maroof, after a well-made 35, was caught at long-off, and Alim, attempting to accelerate, was bowled for 34.
Fin and skipper Imran were the next pair in. Fin continued his usual steady approach, while Imran tried to lift the run rate with the overs running out. Unfortunately, he was dismissed for 8. A flurry of quick wickets followed, and Saints lost their momentum.

However, a late counterattack from John Shaw, who remained unbeaten on 26, helped push the total to 166. Despite the recovery, Saints felt they were at least 30 runs short of what their strong start had promised.
St Albans were motivated to make early inroads with the ball. James Witty and John Shaw opened the bowling, both finding early movement. However, John soon struggled with his line, and Pinner raced to 50 without loss, comfortably ahead with no scoreboard pressure.

Young Neel Aswani provided the breakthrough, trapping their opener LBW for 22. At the other end, Suli bowled a dream spell, taking 3 quick wickets, which included the scalp of the other opener who was on 69. Sadly, it proved too late. Missed catches and some questionable umpiring decisions didn’t help Saints’ cause, and in the end, the better team on the day won.
The full scorecard can be found here

(Match report by Imran Ahmed)

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
166		        
Matt Shadwick ct C Hutchinson b A Rajadurai 12 1
nasibullah Maroofkhel ct C Hutchinson b A Rajadurai 35
Abdul Alim b R Chandhok 34
Fin McNab b Z Chowdhry 19
Imran Ahmed ct C Hutchinson b R Chandhok 8
Jude Berry ct Unsure b Z Chowdhry 2
John Shaw Not Out  24
Sulaiman Nisar ct S Pilsbury b Z Chowdhry 0 1
Niraj Aswani b R Chandhok 0
Neel Aswani Not Out  5 1
James Witty  

Pinner CC 3rd XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Niro Rajadurai5.001300.002.60
Ankit Nimje6.003300.005.50
Aaran Rajadurai7.0121210.503.00
Shane O'Sullivan6.002500.004.17
Zaydaan Chowdhry8.002939.673.63
Simon Pilsbury2.001000.005.00
Rimit Chandhok6.002538.334.17

Pinner CC 3rd XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 4 wickets
0
170 (34.0 overs)		     
Simon Pilsbury st M Shadwick b S Nisar 69
Raj Vernekar lbw N Aswani 22
Zaydaan Chowdhry ct N Aswani b S Nisar 10
Shane O'Sullivan ct S Nisar b S Nisar 7
Siva Yellapantulu Not Out  29
Cyrus Barrett Not Out  13
Aaran Rajadurai  
Chris Hutchinson  
Rimit Chandhok  
Niro Rajadurai  
Ankit Nimje  

St Albans Cricket Club 5XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
James Witty3.002500.008.33
John Shaw3.001700.005.67
Niraj Aswani4.001400.003.50
Neel Aswani6.0032132.005.33
Imran Ahmed8.003000.003.75
Sulaiman Nisar8.0134311.334.25
Jude Berry2.001400.007.00