The game is being held here;
Fives & Heronians Cricket Club, Green Lane,
Chigwell IG7 6DN
https://maps.app.goo.gl/afhRqWyxJo7jN5Rx9
It’s easy to miss Green Lane as it isn’t a proper road.
Match report away to Chigwell CC 5th May 2019
So after a lot of organisation and anticipation our first league game saw us visit Chigwell CC in deepest Essex. They are playing some of their games , including ours , at Fives CC’s cute and pretty ground. It’s in a lovely setting with a fine flat batting strip , true outfield and cosy clubhouse. It’s clearly had a lot of TLC.
Chigwell are new opposition to us and greeted us warmly – this spirit was true of the whole day as they are a very friendly and welcoming team. So onto the action – the toss won Manish chose to bat first – the format is slightly different to what we have played before as it’s basically a time game with batting and bowling bonus points available. A team batting second in trouble can block out for draw if necessary.
The temperature was in the low teens so jumpers were necessary – as ever we had a great turnout of supporters.
Mahender opened with Niroshan against Rob Alum’s medium pace which Mahender immediately took a liking to dispatching the first ball for 4 taking 17 off the first over. Niroshan ably supported him as the score rapidly reached 48 in the 9th over before Niroshan was bowled bringing newbie Sanjeev in at 3. Mahender continued the attack reaching his 50 off only 40 balls faced. When Sanjeev was bowled in the 16th over our total was 79 for 2. Mahender was dropped on the fine leg boundary when he was on about 25 – a drop which was to prove costly.
Chigwell’s other opening bowler , Mr Hutchinson , bowled his entire allowance of 12 overs without a break and helped keep the score in check finishing on 45 for 1 wicket. Thankfully none of the host’s other bowlers could match his accuracy and it’s probably safe to say they were a regular bowler short. Their third bowler , Mr Orange , was their most successful taking 5 for 63 off his 12 overs.
Back to our batting – Noddy (welcomed back after quite a few seasons) in at 4 joining Mahender saw our total accumulate rapidly as the fast outfield made Chigwell work. The boundaries flowed as Noddy reached his 50 off 49 deliveries and the 20th over saw us at 97 for 2 wickets. It was very entertaining to watch from the boundary – the hosts battled away and their heads never dropped.
Noddy eventually edged to the keeper for a classy 82 – our total had reached 216 for 3 off 32 overs. Mahender continued to keep the boundaries flowing reaching his second century in successive innings with support from our middle order.
When he was eventually stumped in the 40th over he had reached 128 with 18 fours and a six. Sam in at 10 scored an outrageous reverse sweep 4 before Manish declared with our total at 254 for 9 in the 40th over. So a tremendous first batting effort saw us reach what looked like a defendable total.
In the warmth of the cosy pavilion a well needed tea followed before we took the field.
Manish opened with himself and Mamun – a double spin attack. This tactic paid off as Manish had Bloch their opener LBW in the second over – a bad start for our hosts. Mamun shortly after bowled their wicket keeping skipper , Mr Colwill, for a duck – 12 for 2 after 7 overs. Things then got worse as Manish bowled their number 4 – 15 for 3
After this poor start Rob Allum in at 5 helped to steady the ship with their number 2 taking it to the 17th over before change bowler Sam tempted the opener to hit into the outfield where Stuart (who else!) took a smart catch – 33 for 4 after 17 overs – things were looking good for us especially as Sanjeev was bowling well (finishing with 7 overs for only 7 runs)
So Chigwell could only hope to get some points by drawing as our total now looked well beyond them.Wickets were needed but their number 6 ,Jaswal, looked capable as anything loose was attacked. Together with Rob Alum he patiently took the score to 93 (seeing off 22 overs) before Manish caught him off Mahender. 93 for 5 after 39 overs.
We had a total of 51 overs to try to bowl them out (we declared after 40 overs allowing us to add 5 to their innings) With Rob still there a draw looked possible for our hosts and he looked set to stay until a rush of blood saw him get a big edge to be caught by newbie Andrew at point for 44.
Things got really tense after this as their lower order were slowly winkled out (crucially we took most of our catches) but hanging on long enough to see the overs out. Graces were crowded in close putting the pressure on. The last over arrived with 8 wickets down so a draw looked on the cards.
Mahender had enjoyed his batting and he had the pressure of bowling our last over. The 2nd ball saw him tempt their number 9 into a mistimed shot caught by Noddy. So in strode their number 11 , Mr Orange their wicket taking bowler, with 4 balls to face. He looked experienced so surely he’d show a strong defence. However to the disbelief of his team mates and our delight he took a big swing and the ball just clipped the bail – we had won in the most dramatic style!
Mahender had taken 5 wickets as well as a century – I’m not sure if this outstanding feat has been done before – and was unsurprisingly our MOM
All our bowlers had chipped in to make our win with Andrew and Noddy bowling very economically.
So we retired to the welcoming club house where we went through the game with our ever welcoming hosts.
Next week we play Fives CC – the current champions!