Scorecard

Northwood CC v Eastcote CC Saturday 5th team on Sat 10 Aug 2019 at 1 pm
Eastcote CC Won By 197 runs (time game).

Match report REPORT OF SATURDAY FIFTH TEAMS INAUGURAL FIXTURE VS NORTHWOOD CC AWAY NEAR AMERSHAM ON 10 AUGUST:

A spectacular line and length and swing and seam movement bowling performance by our new ball bowlers Nilesh Pandya and Jazib Naeem as well as attacking fileds and good catching and stopping.....saw the opposition bowled out for just 15 in 13.1 overs.

It was a old fashioned time/declaration game and Eastocte declared earlier than planned on 202 for 4 off 37 overs due to two lengthy rain delays. That coupled with the fact that we ran through the oppo in 13.1 overs meant that a couple of guys did not bat or bowl which was not great. The flip side was a team with several young colts and a debut adult game for u12 Aaditya Bhandarkar; were totally committed and enjoyed being part of a spectactular shock and awe decimation of the oppo through good cricket. Sometimes one can learn from a committed team spirted big win with total focus more than simply getting a bat or bowl. I was impressed and humbled by the way no one felt bad and we all rejoiced at a big win and had fun on the journey to it together. I can only thank the whole team fopr their wholehearted commitment to our wonderful club. The parents there (Messrs Shah, Shah, Bhandarker and Malde) were totally involved in everything from scoring to manning the scoreboard and also volunteered to umpire, making the captain's job really easy. Thanks Rohan, Jay, Avnish and Anil.

Eastcote won the toss and backing ourselves Arvind decided to bat on a dodgy wet drying pitch (the weather forecast wasn't great all day) and it turned out to be a good decision since we had two lengthy rain delays and the pitch got damper. They had one quick bowler who was moving it around but Arvind and Krish Patel put on a sedate and safe 42 (in 14 overs) until the ageing steam engine was bowled by a ball which came in and left off the pitch. Bowled on forward defence is never a good feeling no matter how good the ball. Akhil Sofat came in at 3 and showed the difference in class between him and his predecessor as he smashed a superb 39 whilst u13 Krish Patel stroked his way to 43. Both deserved fifties but Akhil fell at 100 (LBW to a grubber) and then Krish at 136 caught off a ball which stopped a bit. Jazib Naeem at four played the knock of the day until he was stumped for 50 (176 for 4 off 33 overs), going for runs mindful of the time constraints and also the fact that we had colts following him and we wanted them to get a bat too. Krish Patwal played some sound controlled well-timed shots on the ground and looked in great touch and fitter than ever and young Aaditya Bhandarkar was impressive playing one ball at a time and knowing what his strengths were. He works it off his legs like Kohli. His game plan defied his young years. Both ran their singles well and dealt with the vagaries of the pitch like veterans. They looked like they would go on forever but then it poured again and we declared on the going off score of 202 for 4 (37 0vers). A very very good batting display and the Northwood innings highlighted it.

Jazib opened up from the Pavilion End and swung the old ball (same match ball) both ways.....great match ball given by DOC which swung all day. Nilesh seamed it and swung it in. Both bowled to attacking fields of 3 slips, 1/2 gullies, backward point, silly point or foward shortleg and short mid off or short cover. Jaz had a 9-0 field once with only 2/3 in front of square.....all in catching. Wickets fell like nine pins (actually ten pins.....pun intended) and the idea was to control the game with a new ball burst of 5/6 overs each (get maybe 3 or 4 wickets) and then let the colt spinners loose. Nilesh took 6 however to end with 6-4-6-6. His first 3 overs were maidens and he took 2 wickets in his last over to add to his wickets in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th overs. Jazib had a double wicket maiden in his 5th over and his analysis read 6-3-5-2. Akhil Sofat took a super slip catch off Jazib but the remaining 7 new ball wickets were bowled and LBW. Basically the seamers bowled on the stumps or just outside off, made the batters play and Jaz swung it away and in late whilst Nilesh worked it more in off the seam. The close catchers put pressure and the gaps left at areas like mid-off and mid-on tempted batters to play silly shots a bit early looking to exploit the gaps. The colts were really focused and kept the pressure up with encouragement to bowlers and by switiching on for every ball.

u13 leggie Rohan Shah rerplaced Jazib and got a bowled off his maiden over and then offie Shubh Malde, replacing Nilesh, turned the ball a mile to bowl the last guy comprehensively off his first ball. Special thanks to these two spinners who did not bat and Vikesh Patel (who voluntereed not to bowl to give the colts a go) and u13 Dillan Shah who fielded superbly as always but like Vikesh did not bat or bowl. The rain and shortened game (as well as our 13 over bowling blitz) did not help everyone to get a game but I am really happy and humbled that the team played as one and were totally focused in their work on the field, never letting off the pressure. Not a single misfield or dropped catch or bad ball. Its a privilege to play for this team.

Only 12 runs were scored off the bat and the scores were 3/0 (3 ov), 3/1 (4 ov), 4/1 (5 ov), 4/2 (6 ov), 4/2 (7 ov), 9/3 (8 o), 9/5 (9 ov), 9/6 (10 ov), 12/6 (11 ov), 13/8 (12 ov)...end of new ball spell. 15/9 )13 ov) and 15 all out (1 ball later). The good news was the lads learnt to focus and finish the job and once on top never let the other team back into the game.

ADDITIONAL REPORT:

The first game was historical in a sense but then we also had an exceptionally strong 5th team with Jazib Naeem, Nilesh Pandya, Akhil Sofat, Krish Patwal, Krish Patel all in there along with Shubh Malde ….some 5th team that. We bowled the opposition out for just 15 with one of the finest displays of new ball bowling I have ever witnessed, with both seamers showing skill and accuracy and understanding the plans and the fields set. The opposition was Northwood CC and we felt sorry for them (especially after the fact). We were put in on a rainy morning (as the weather looked more peak district than Missenden) and had to battle our way through stoppages, drizzles and a really good opening bowler to gather a score of 202/4 wherein we declared (time game), after 37 overs; wanting to give them a little more overs back as well as give ourselves enough time to bowl them out. This was a very good score in those conditions and we showed a sense of urgency, in case the heavens opened up again. I opened the batting along with u-13 Krish Patel so had a firsthand look at the Surrey boy wonder and he made me want to crawl into the bushes beyond the boundary (where he was making the ball disappear), such was his composure and stroke play. I tried gamely to justify my opening-partner-of-Krish Patel-tag but paled in comparison and got bowled by their seamer in the 15th over. However, we had weathered a really bad pitch and things were getting better (both in terms of the conditions and the quality of the batting) as Akhil Sofat strode in with a willowy smile. Then his willow got to work as the Sofat smashed 39 (off just 19 balls) on a difficult track whilst Krish Patel hit some great shots to get to 43. Krish Patel fell at 100…. (21st over) but the Naeem then joined the Sofat and we were soon looking in pole position at 136/3 (25 overs) when Akhil fell. Young u-12 Aaditya Bhandarkar showed us why Paul Martin rates him so highly with some great working of the ball off his legs. He remained unbeaten on 19 with Krish Patwal (who is vastly improved this year) not out on 15; after Jazib fell for a superb 50 (29 balls), stumped going for quick runs. I told the lads we would back ourselves and attack going for a win and told them we had batted awfully well on a difficult track; so we should be able to bowl them out or under 100, with our skilled and varied attack, on that track. We had Jazib Naeem, Nilesh Pandya , Vikesh Patel, yours truly and Aaditya Bhandarkar as the seamers and Akhil Sofat, Krish Patwal, Shubh Malde, Rohan Shah and Dillan Shah as the spinners. Krish Patel was the bundle of energy and calm behind the three sticks. What followed next was beyond our wildest dreams. The opening bowlers Jazib Naeem and Nilesh Pandya reduced Northwood to 13 for 8 after 6 overs each, swinging and seaming the new ball at will. DOC Broomy had given us one of his VKS specials to bowl with. The field was positive and we soon had no mid-on, no mid-off and almost no one in front of square and 6 to 7 in the slip cordon pouching catches for fun, along with a silly mid-on blocking the onside drives totally; and a very short cover in close catching. It was bedlam. Jazib 6-3-5-2 and Nilesh 6-4-6-6. Then Rohan Shah got a wicket in his first over (the young u-13 leggie in only his second adult game) and u-15 Shubh Malde a wicket with his first ball. It was all over in 13.1 overs. Northwood 15 all out. ECC winners by 187runs. Jazib put it aptly in the euphoric post-match debrief, praising the fielders for the pressure and catching in such an attacking field; and saying that he had never played in a team which had bowled the opposition out for 15. Neither had any of us in the ECC XI that day, anywhere, anytime, anyhow. Eastcote takes one to places one has never been before (as Kris Kristofferson would say). We had a young team with 8 colts, including fur u-13s. Three colts: u-12 Aaitya Bhandarkar, u-13 Dillan Shah and u-13 Rohan Shah made their adult Saturday debuts. A huge thanks for the team of fathers who scored, helped umpire and cheered and did everything a manager would be doing….Thanks dads….we owed a lot of our performance to you guys. You encouraged us, motivated us and made our life easy, so we could all focus on the on-field effort.


Eastcote CC Saturday 5th team Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 11w 6b 7lb 
for 4 wickets
28
202		        
Arvind Joshi b Abhi 6 35 1 17.14
Krish Patel ct & b R Sharma 43 52 7 82.69
Akhil Sofat lbw R Sharma 39 2 7 1 1950.0 1
Jazib Naeem st ? b Raj Shah 50 30 10 166.67
Aaditya Bhandarkar Not Out  19 31 2 61.29
Krish Patwal Not Out  15 9 2 166.67
Dillan Shah  
Shubh Malde  
Rohan Shah  
Vikesh Patel  
Nilesh Pandya  

Northwood CC Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Abhi9.0315115.001.67
Khush6.022500.004.17
Rafi5.004200.008.40
R Sharma4.001929.504.75
Ben5.003700.007.40
Raj Shah5.0029129.005.80
Yash Shah3.002300.007.67

Northwood CC Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 1w 1b  
for 10 wickets
3
15 (13.1 overs)		     
M Karnik lbw Nilesh Pandya 2 17 11.76
Y Rao b Nilesh Pandya 0 14 0
R Sharma b Nilesh Pandya 0 11 0
Ben ct Akhi lSofat b Jazib Naeem 5 7 1 71.43
Abhi b Nilesh Pandya 0 1 0
Steve lbw Jazib Naeem 0 3 0
Rafi b Nilesh Pandya 2 7 28.57
Raj Shah Not Out  2 10 20.0
Prashant b Nilesh Pandya 0 1 0
Yash Shah b Rohan Shah 0 2 0
Khush b Shubh Malde 1 4 25.00

Eastcote CC Saturday 5th team Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jazib Naeem6.03522.500.83
Nilesh Pandya6.04661.001.00
Rohan Shah1.00212.002.00
Shubh Malde0.10010.000.00

  • Umpire :
  • Scorer :
    Mr Neeraj Shah