Scorecard

Leamington Cricket Club 1st XI v Eastnor on Sat 07 Jun 2014 at 12.00
Leamington Cricket Club Won by 59 runs

Match report
On a day which began with skies so black and rain so plentiful, it looked like there was no prospect of a game. So it was a delight to find that, thanks to the considerable efforts of the groundstaff, aided by the arrival of warm summer sunshine, the game was on. And what a crucial game this was. Leamington were 9 points clear at the top of the second division, but with many other games abandoned because of the rain, there was a chance of building a substantial lead – all that was needed was a win.

The rain caused a delay to the start of the match – each team being restricted to 33 overs. Eastnor won the toss and, unsurprisingly, put Leamington in to bat on a damp, slow, unpredictable wicket.

Openers Shabaz Alam and Jonathan Wigley started slowly as the ball moved around in the hands of opening bowlers Shahid (an excellent 3 for 14 off 10 overs) and Shameer Ahmed. They put on a solid partnership of 26 and got Leamington through a literally very sticky phase of the game.

The score rate picked up with a much needed partnership from Lee Hopkins and Captain Rob Williams – something that spectators are getting used to. In just over 4 overs they rapidly took the score from 58 to 99 on a wicket that was beginning to dry. Hopkins’s innings of 31 included five 4s and a gloriously hit 6 before he was caught behind by Wicket keeper and Captain Clive Chadhani who took 4 catches in total. Williams scored 24 before falling to Eastnor’s Faisal Khalid (3 for 38 off 5 overs). More stubborn resistance was shown by Leamington as the batters tried to put as many runs on the board as possible, with Max Webber scoring 24 and Ollie Currill 18. At the end of their 33 overs Leamington had amassed 169 for 9.

With the sun now blazing down, Eastnor came in to bat. In the sixth over fast bowler Grant Thornton 3 for 27 off 9) clean bowled Andrew Fisher; in the following over Max Webber (1 for 23 off 5 overs) took a very smart caught and bowled to remove the second opener Sunil Rahi. Eastnor were 24 for 2. Wickets fell regularly, with only Clive Chadhani (18) and Tareq Jamil (39) putting on a partnership of 36 before Jamil was caught way in the deep by Jonathan Wigley. The bowlers continued to contain the runs and take the wickets, epitomised by Neil Smith (1 for 8 off 4 overs).

A brilliant run out by Max Webber raised everyone’s spirits as Eastnor’s wickets continued to tumble. But with the game rapidly drawing to an end it looked like the final pair would not give anything away. Then, with 8 balls to go (the same margin as last week), Mark Ashcroft (4 for 16 off 4.4 overs) took the bails off Sajid Ali’s wicket as he ‘shouldered arms’. Eastnor were all out for 110; Leamington had won, and leapt to a 28 point lead over Stourbridge. And guess what – within seconds of the game finishing the heavens opened again!! It was definitely Leamington’s day.

With so many games locally lost to the weather, this result owes much to the investment made by the Club in ground equipment over the last two years, without which the game may not have been played.



Leamington Cricket Club 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
10w 1b 6lb 
for 9 wickets
17
169		        
Shabaaz Alam Caught  13
Jonathan Wigley Caught  21 1
Mark Ashcroft Caught  13
Lee Hopkins Caught  31
Rob Williams Bowled  24
Grant Thornton Caught  1
Max Webber Caught  24 2 1
Ollie Currill Not Out  18
Neil Smith Caught  7
Nabeel Asghar Run out  0
Faisal Khalid  

Eastnor Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Shahid10.051434.671.40
Shameer4.011900.004.75
Jamil6.003000.005.00
Jabran2.002200.0011.00
Ali6.0039219.506.50
Khalid5.0038312.677.60

Eastnor Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
11w 2b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
14
110 (31.4 overs)		     
Fisher b Thornton 1
Rahi ct & b Webber 22
Chadhani lbw Ashcroft 18
Khalid b Smith 7
Jamil ct Wigley b Thornton 39
Peplow lbw Ashcroft 1
Shameer run out (Webber) 0
Shahid b Thornton 0
Hussain ct Webber b Ashcroft 1
Jabran Not Out  5
Ali b Ashcroft 0

Leamington Cricket Club 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Max Webber5.0123123.004.60
Grant Thornton9.032739.003.00
Neil Smith4.01818.002.00
Faisal Khalid5.002000.004.00
Ollie Currill4.001300.003.25
Mark Ashcroft4.401644.003.43