Sri Lankan contingent shine!
Another absolutely glorious afternoon saw Grace’s travel to Harrow for a return game against Belmont & Edgware CC who had beaten us in an earlier fixture this season.
Dom lost the toss and the oppo unsurprisingly opted to bat first – the first game had seen us bat badly chasing a modest total. Late stand in Ragan – one of 5 Sri Lankans playing – opened the bowling, promptly seeing both openers back in the pavilion bowled all ends up.
Jacobs , the left handed number 3 , applied himself well for a well crafted 21 before being bowled by Newton’s best delivery of the day. The number 4 , Tuhrim , played a good anchor role – there is hope for all of us as he is 72 years old! Newton eventually had him caught at slip by Dom – a bit of a juggle kept us entertained. Dom also took a great running catch later in the innings.
Anosh bowled well keeping the run rate down with Mamun looping it up at the other end with Richard and Nihara also bowling tightly. A late flurry by the 10 man home team saw them all out for 129. Anosh’s final figures were 3 wickets for 20 runs.
After a weight watcher’s tea – email for further details! – Grace’s openers , Dom and Niroshan , took to the field aware that the total needed was almost identical to the last game. The first wicket fell at 17 when Niroshan was caught behind – walking in contrast to a certain England player! Mendis played a sweet cameo before being stumped with the total at 36. Belmont must have fancied their chances but number 4 Ragan immediately signalled his intent with some big hits including taking their spinner, Jeffries , out of the attack after hitting him for 23 in one over.
The carnage continued and Belmont’s heads were dropping as Ragan hit his way to an undefeated 79 including 9 fours and 6 sixes! The winning runs came up rapidly in the 23 over. Dom provided able support finishing on 22 not out. So a fine win by 8 wickets and revenge for our earlier defeat.
Scott made his debut including a catch – regarding debuts , Ian made his last week.
So hopefully we can keep the winning run going!