Actonians Cricket Club

Scorecard

Harrow Town v Actonians Cricket Club 2nd XI on Sat 22 Jun 2013 at 1.00pm
Actonians Cricket Club Lost by 2 wickets

Match report A Close Match-up Results in Disappointment for the 2s

On another wet and windy day in North West London, the fixture almost didn't go ahead. With the teams back in the changing rooms only 20 minutes before start, the heavens opening outside and the game on the next door pitch abandoned, players from both teams were doing their respective rain dances.

The game however, did finally get underway without any loss of overs at the start (a key point as you'll find out later), and As, having been put into bat, sent forth opening Andies, Maben and West. Coincidentally the two openers were also the two players with family members joining them in the side.

Andrew 'the Greater' Maben started well, laying into any loose deliveries and being uncharacteristically agressive in the first over. He was joined quite promptly at the crease by Marcus 'the lesser' Maben who replaced Andy West, who succumbed to a primary at the start of the second over.

The Mabens, enjoying a rare partnership, put on 20 for the first wicket before Andrew Maben (11) was caught in the gully off the bowling of opener Halpage.

This brought 2nd team debutant James Munro to the fore. The kiwi continued his previous success for the thirds and looked to be enjoying the step up as he smashed 89 from 72 in his partnership of 107 with the lesser Maben (69).

The tail had a good wag at the end of the innings with Tommy Byrne coming into form, putting together a quick 20 not out, leaving Harrow Town chasing 218 in 43 overs.

The matter of overs allowed was a hot dispute between the teams as, according to the handbook (which is always at Ali's side), if there are no overs lost at the start of play, there is no reason the team batting first cannot bat for 55 overs. This dispute fired up both teams for the second innings.

The second innings started well for the Axemen with Nawroz Arghandabi claiming the scalp of captain Mousin Shafi in the first over. The wickets tumbled at regular intervals all the way up to drinks. Nawroz's trademark tight bowling put pressure on the batsmen to score from the other end which gave Piradeepan 'The Fire' Sivanathan and Shaun Qamar a chance to tempt some false shots from the other batsmen.

It was only when veteran batsman Yousef Shafi took to the field that some sense of calm was restored. Naik, who had shafted several deliveries over the slip cordon, was brought back down to earth and batted with much more maturity following a few stern words and the pair were able to steady the ship and steer it further towards their goal with the storm clouds looming.

With 35 overs down and only 4 wickets in Harrow's hands, the game looked set for any outcome. A downpour would render the game a draw, with points going to HT for a high run-rate; a few quick wickets would give Old Actonians the win; or a resiliant batting display would see the Town through to victory.

Alas, the result came to the latter. Despite a fierce second spell from Piri, which saw him quickly remove S. Arora (an event which left the batsman so shocked he had to be cordially reminded to leave the field of play by the young Sri Lankan paceman), Naik and Number 10 A. Siddique managed to see off the remaining runs to claim victory.

To put the import of this game in perspective, Harrow Town claimed 10 points which pulled them from 5th to 2nd in the table. Had they lost, they would have found themselves overtaken by the As. As it is, Old Actonians will have to wait another week to recommence their march out of the relegation zone.

Actonians Cricket Club 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1w 2b 1lb 
for 9 wickets
4
218		     
Andrew Maben ct gully Bowled Imtiyaz 11 19 1 57.89
Andy West ct keeper Bowled Halpage 0 1 0 1
Marcus Maben lbw Arora 69 96 10 71.88
James Munro ct mid on Bowled Arora 89 72 14 123.61
Alistair Slaughter b Arora 0 4 0
Nawroz Arghandabi ct keeper Bowled Halpage 7 14 1 50.0 1
Rob Long b Halpage 8 21 38.10
Oliver West ct and Bowled Arora 5 7 71.43 1
Tom Byrne Not Out  20 16 2 125.00 1
Shaiq Qamar Not Out  5 7 71.43 1
Piradeepan Sivanathan  

Harrow Town Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Imtiyaz9.0134134.003.78
Halpage12.0332310.672.67
Atif3.001400.004.67
Subbararaman5.002800.005.60
Shafi7.005700.008.14
Arora10.0049412.254.90

Harrow Town Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 4w 7b 7lb 
for 8 wickets
20
222 (41.5 overs)		     
Mohsin Shafi b Nawroz 0
T Awan ct A West Bowled Sivanathan 0
I Halpage ct Qamar Bowled Sivanathan 21
M Naik Not Out  101
M Nawfer lbw Nawroz 4
P Goradia ct T Byrne Bowled Qamar 10
Ranjeeth S ct O West Bowled Qamar 1
Yousef Shafi ct Nawroz Bowled O West 26
S Arora b Bowled Sivanathan 4
A Siddique  
I Padaniya  

Actonians Cricket Club 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Nawroz Arghandabi16.0365232.504.06
Piradeepan Sivanathan11.0064321.335.82
Shaiq Qamar4.5024212.004.97
James Munro1.001400.0014.00
Tom Byrne4.001500.003.75
Oliver West5.0123123.004.60

  • Umpire :
    Ernie Charles
  • Scorer :