Scorecard

Eastcote CC Sunday 1st Team v Hemel Hempstead on Sun 16 Jun 2019 at 1pm
Eastcote CC Won By 6 wickets with 24 balls to spare (CVL Game 2)

Match report MATCH REPORT C.V.L. GAME 2 (SUNDAY GAME 8) 16 JUNE 2019 EASTCOTE CC VS HEMEL HEMPSTEAD CC 45 overs per side:

The Heavens opened up a bit: Saturday rain, Sunday morning rain and noon rain showered the prospects of the game with uncertainty. What had been pretty certain the past few Sundays, was Eastcote winning the Sunday toss but it suddenly became a good toss to lose. The wicket was almost dry but one could sense the damp underneath. To bat or not to bat was the question! Chasing would be an issue with us having a weakish side out with the U17 Cup Final clashing and many big guns not available; although the risk was the wicket would do stuff for the first 90 minutes then plateau out. In that event the Heavens intervened again, Hemel Hempstead won the toss and elected to bat..

It felt strange to bowl first up only for the second time after game 2. The returning Joe Daver, after a bit of a Sunday absence, took the first over opting for the slope downhill. He bowled a mixture of good and not so good deliveries but was proving expensive so came off after a quick burst of 3 overs to be replaced by mystery bowler Anmol Chopra. Jazib Naeem, returning to Eastcote, bowled his heart out at pretty decent pace coming uphill for 7 overs of serious effort. He seared it past the outside edge and swung it away to the right hander way early and got good lift off a dampish pitch, trademark Jaz grunt and all. Jazib worked the field well too, with 3 slips and a gully and no fineleg most times. He also left gaps to trap the batters and soon snicked off an opener (their Aussie Jack Bailey), snared by top gloveman Tom Hudson (28 for 1 after 3.4 overs). His spell also accounted for the dangerous looking A Wilson (20) caught well by Anmol in the mid-on trap (63-2 after 9.2 overs) . Their left handed skipper Luke Hodgins had scored bit in the league the day before (Hemel essentially turned up mostly with their Saturday First XI) and we knew their top five were good but the lower order weak, so were trying to exploit the pitch and work the field and use bowling savvy to break through early. It didn't quite work since we proceeded to drop quite a few catches and the ground fielding was not great either up until the 23rd over when HH had rattled up around 130 for 3. Anmol bowled a super spell drying the runs up for 8 overs with 2 overs held back as efforts were made to restrict the score to a manageable chase. His first two balls resulted in their skipper being dropped behind and at second slip whilst first slip tickled himself pink. Anmol's first 3 overs cost just 4 runs and HH who had been scoring at 7 plus and over were pegged back and we would have had the game in control if only the catching had not let us down early. Snicks were also missed off Jazib who came off after a superb 7 overs of nip and pace and exploiting what movement he could and giving us the first two breakthroughs. Then Anmol conjured up another catch off their skipper who struggled all through against him scratching around with dot after dot. This time he chose Jazib on the deep midwicket fence to gamble for a drop; bad choice.....Jazib judged it well and held on. So after Anmol held a catch of Jazib, Jazib returned the favour amongst the splatters. With skip gone at 94-3 (15 overs) we knew we were in with a sniff but we had to field better, tighten the bowling, protect the boundaries whilst trying a bit for 2 more wickets. Waterton was their last gun bat left but the wicket was easing out so prudence was required rather than all out searching for wickets. For now they were scoring too quickly. The lads were brilliant in the second set of 22 overs bowling superbly and generally fielding much better albeit with still a drop here and there. Jazib was replaced by the experienced left-arm tweaker Ron Pratley who hardly gives anything away and Ron created chances which didn't quite get pouched whilst drying up the runs brilliantly with a continuous 10 over spell. He had good rythm and used the crease well. He didn't deserve to go wicketless. Anmol from the top end was superb throughout and Joe Daver came back for 2 overs after Anmol was held back after at 8 overs; but Joe ineffective so the slowish seam stuff of Sunday and CVL debutant Dheeraj Kataria was relied on..Dheeraj bowled a long stretch of 8 overs of intelligent dibble dobble doing a great job in keeping the lid on. Jazib 3, Anmol and Arvind juggled the last 5 overs from the pub end whilst Anmol broke Dheeraj's spell as he started flagging and the juggling of bowlers didn't allow their well set batters to settle in the slog. Two great runouts from Joe Daver and Rohan Hirani with super pick ups and throws helped enormously; such is the importance of fielding. Waterton was run out Daver for 60 (202-4 off 38.3 overs) and the ungainly Langley who scratched around early but then gained confidence to top score with 79 was run out Hirani (255-5 off 44 overs).With only 1 left hander to bowl at (albeit for 15 overs) we gave 24 extras including 19 wides...not good. We have to get tighter with our lines becasue wides play a huge role in the CVL if tight wides are agreed on and we push for that because we have so many left handers in our batting line up. The 266 for 5 off the quota of 45 overs did give us some confidence for the cahse since we were conscious that our bowlers had not taken a wicket after the 15th over....the track was now nice and firm and the damp was helping bind it after an hour of drying out. Well bowled Anmol, Ron, Jazib and Dheeraj. Joe Daver 5-0-44-0, Jazib Naeem 10-0-67-2, Anmol Chopra 10-0-39-1, Ron Pratley 10-0-40-0, Dheeraj Kataria 9-0-62-0 and Arvind 1-0-11-0. The lads were superb with the ball and in the field in the second half (the two runoputs saved us quite a few runs) and Anmol and Jazib bowled well in the first. So a potential 300 plus became a more manageable 267 off 45 at 5.93 an over. A couple of good knocks, a stand or two, on a more placid wicket; and a good run rate start early to avoid run pressure; and we would win it. Having said that this was only our second run chase of the season against a strong Hemel attack and our batting was weak compared to our earlier games.

Cometh the hour..cometh the man..Salute Charlie Hobday. He strode in after 13 balls and strode out undefeated after 41 overs, compiling a superb 103 not out (off 106 balls with 12 fours and reacing his century with a huge straight driven six). Charlie eschewed family commitments to don the Eastcote sweater and take us to a top win in the league: total club man. Charlie is a top player...less talk and more walk....and a superb vice captain. He was great in the field too keeping everyone in good spirits and a wonderful batting partner for everyone especially a colt whom he shepherded along brilliantly in a match winning unbroken 136 run 5th wicket stand off just 20.5 overs. Returning u15 Rohan Hirani (whose last game for the Sunday Ones was a unbeaten last ball ton at Stoke Green) stroked a superb unbeaten 63 (off 82 balls with 8 fours and 1 six). He rode out a tight single saving field and sledges for a while when on 49, then reached his 50 with his trademark flat pull drive to midwicket and set up a great 41st over. First Charlie hit a straight six into the car park sightscreen to reach is ton; then he took a single. Rohan then hit a straight six into the sightscreen and straight drove another four off the next ball, to stamp his seal on another great batting performance. Charlie however was the key, pacing his innings brilliantly, always staying ahead of the near 6 asking rate and never allowing it to really get over 5; riding the pressure, biding his time when they bowled well and shutting the gate on one end early. Both batters played mainly in the V and eschewed shots like the ramp and reverse in a proper batting masterclass. If one has the ability to hit straight sixes and can pull, why play risky shots. It was the same with Tom, Jazib and Shahen. A superb batting display of a clear head, clear plans, total concentration and no panic. A truly professional run chase with no real stars. We had been disappointed at batting 10 overs less in our alst CVL league game and 4 wickets down in 41 overs inspite of run chase pressure, exorcised those demons.

We were blessed with 5 left handers and with agreed tight wide rules; we opted to spread the lefties and mix them with righties as much as possible to trouble their bowlers and fielders and induce wides. The plan worked and we milked 56 extras (with 47 wides). So righty Rohan went in ahead of lefty Ronak at number 6 since the left handed Chobday was already in. Team man Ronak Patel waited patiently for his turn and celebrated with pure joy at our win, blessed to have team players like him at Eastcote....its not about him for Ronak..its about the team.. The batting line up was spread out a bit and Arvind went in first with Tom Hudson. The move misfired when he pulled in two minds off the sharp Aussie Bailey and top edged to nowhere...bad pick-up of length, bad judgement, bad balance, bad shot selection..all bad. Tom Hudson played superbly with a mix of aggression, defence and singles until the Aussie did him with a nice cut back..bowled for 21 (26 balls 4 fours). Eastcote were 14-1 (2.1 overs) and now 45-2 (6.5 overs). However, the canny Charlie had already started playing his shots with judicious ball selction and our 100 came up at over 8 an over, thus making the remaining runs less risky and easier to get. Jazib Naeem pulled out a superb old fashioned cover drive as only he can but was a tad unlucky to be adjudged leg before when just 12 (15 balls 2 fours) but Eastcote were already 99-3 (11.5 overs) such was Chobday's dominance over the attack and zone concentration. Another returner Shahen Wijeratne took his time, and kept Chobday company until 132-4 (19.1 overs) hitting a good shot straight to mid off. Shiny struck 2 sweet fours to announce his return...all of him. He also pulled off a world class stop and throw at slip. 132-4 meant we needed 135 at just over 5 an over.... and...Chobday and Rohan worked it brilliantly and waited patiently knowing wides were around the corner here and there and singles would do it. They also kept hitting boundaries at the right times to whittle away with nary a chance given..until the 41st over went for 15, although the match had been well won by them until then. With not much batting left, they proved the classic adage...never leave for others what you can do yourself.

Two wins out of Two in the CVL Div 2 is a good start and winning every Sunday helps. It was nice to dethrone Hemel at the top of the table. We are level with them on 8 points but have played one game less and our runs/wickets ratio is superior with 3.47 to 0.15. The ten wickets taken last game and loss of only 4 wickets when batting this game, has helped our R/W ratio. Winning is a habit and a nice one at that and such streaks can make the difference in key tight games. On On squirrels!!

ADDITIONAL REPORT:

Game 8 got us to League Match number 2 vs the formidable Hemel Hempstead (more or less their Saturday First Team). Rashard opted out to do groundsman duty at Radlett so we were weakened but we also welcomed Jazib Naeem back to Eastcote for his first game since the 2013 season. Hemel elected to bat on a slightly damp pitch and we made full use of a sluggish track for the first 15 overs or so to eke out a slender advantage. We squeezed Hemel for runs in the first half but couldn’t get enough wickets and then we did a good job at keeping runs in check with tight bowling and defensive field settings in the latter stages since they had 8 wickets in hand going into the end overs. 266 for 5 seemed a fair total to chase with the pitch playing better but we had no Rash, no Shaariq, none like Akhil, Amaan, Sam or Krish: in short, no real batting depth. Jazib was rusty and our batting was thin. I opted to open (since I used to do that often and to spread the batting) with Tom; and then I foolishly stood up tall to hook their express Aussie overseas quick to hole out early for a blob. Tom played sensibly but the Oz overseas bowled him for 21; However, Charlie Hobday at 3 was settling down. Jazeeb came in at four and batted nicely biding his time but fell LBW to a dodgy decision for 12. Shahen “Shiney” Wijeratne (in his only game for us this season) flattered to deceive and hit a catch to mid-off for 13. At 132 for 4, with Charlie set; but only young Rohan Hirani (first game of the season) and Ronak Patel to come amongst the batters; we were sweating. However, Charlie batted brilliantly and kept the amazingly hard-hitting Rohan calm as they chased the target down with some late straight sixes making the match look one sided. A 6 wicket win with 4 overs to spare. Bravo!! A batting masterclass and perhaps the knock of the season from the Chobday: whose leadership potential was evident too.


Hemel Hempstead Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 19w 3lb 
for 5 wickets
24
266 (45.0 overs)		     
Luke Hodgins (captain) ct  Jazib Naeem bowled Anmol Chopra 40 47 6 85.11
Jack Bailey ct  Tom Husdson bowled Jazib Naeem 5 16 1 31.25
T Wilson ct  Anmol Chopra bowled Jazib Naeem 20 27 4 74.07
T Waterton run out  (Joseph Daver) 60 105 4 1 57.14
W Langley run out  (Rohan Hirani) 79 104 7 75.96
A Moulster Not Out  33 26 4 126.92
C Hoskins Not Out  5 2 250.0
L Boughton  
W Hodgins  
A Locke  
N Benson  

Eastcote CC Sunday 1st Team Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Joseph Daver5.004400.008.80
Jazib Naeem10.0067233.506.70
Anmol Chopra10.0039139.003.90
Ron Pratley10.004000.004.00
Dheeraj Kataria9.006200.006.89
Arvind Joshi1.001100.0011.00

Eastcote CC Sunday 1st Team Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 47w 7lb 
for 4 wickets
56
268		        
Arvind Joshi ct  T Wilson bowled Jack Bailey 0 3 0
Tom Hudson b  bowled Jack Bailey 21 26 4 80.77 1
Charlie Hobday Not Out  103 106 12 4 97.17
Jazib Naeem lbw  C Hoskins 12 15 2 80.0 1
Shahen Wijeratne ct  Jack Bailey bowled C Hoskins 13 21 2 61.90
Rohan Hirani Not Out  63 82 8 1 76.83 1
Ronak Patel  
Ron Pratley  
Joseph Daver   1
Anmol Chopra   1
Dheeraj Kataria  

Hemel Hempstead Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jack Bailey9.0155227.506.11
N Benson4.003400.008.50
C Hoskins10.0068234.006.80
Luke Hodgins10.004500.004.50
A Locke3.002200.007.33
W Hodgins5.003700.007.40

  • Umpire :
    (Rev) Timothy Hayes
  • Scorer :
    Mr James Hudson