Weekly League roundup by George Watson
Week Twelve - 15 July 2018 (download report as a
PDF here) Heat, runs and football ...
Division 1
The week opened with the eagerly anticipated match between unbeaten
Sky and London Tigers at the top. Opting to bat, the Tigers lost
Shakeel Ahmed early before Shumon Sharif (51) and Muhammed Noor (53)
dominated the crease. Some last gasp striking from Rinku Hussain
elevated the Tigers to a daunting 186-3. In response, Sharif looked
sharp with the ball taking two early wickets as Sky wobbled before
Aleem Hussain and Riz Siddiqui kept them in the hunt with some
majestic batting. However with the light fading and good bowling Sky
fell short, losing their unbeaten streak by 14 runs.
Directly opposite on pitch 3, everyone kept an eye on Millwall, also
unbeaten who looked in ruthless form against last years runners-up
Friends. There was clinical striking from in form openers Arif Ahmed
(50) — who has an average this season of 274, and Farhan Rahman (50)
with some last gasp striking from Salman Amus, as Millwall posted a
tricky 183-3. Despite an enjoyable half century from Afzal Ajmal,
Friends couldn’t keep up with the run rate as they fell short,
ending on 162-5.
London Fields pulled off a stunning victory over defending champions
and the kings of chasing Rose & Crown. Tom Hughes (51) led the way
with some fierce batting, alongside skipper Will Isaac (50) as The
Fields continued the high scoring trend of the day, smacking 183-5,
which could have been more had not been for some super late bowling
by the Crown. Rose & Crown started in typically aggressive fashion,
and were well ahead at the half way point. However after both
openers, Joe Fisher and Pat Heaphy retired not out, the Fields dug
in deep and restricted the defending champions to their first league
defeat of the season as they fell 23 runs short.
Millwall and London Tigers now remain the only unbeaten teams in the
division.
Tuesday saw the Old Fallopians defeat Mile Tailenders. The
Tailenders looked in good nick as they posted a tricky 185-2, Wilson
Digby (51) and Saj Ariyadasa (50) top scoring. However thanks to
impressive batting from Bilal Quereshi (51) and Mohammed Junaid
(51), the OF won with 3 overs to spare.
Best National saw off Regents on Pitch 3. With some super bowling,
Regents were restricted to 94-2 in 16 overs. Best Nationals eased to
96-0 in just 6 overs openers Baba Enowdhary (48) and Rhehan Mahmood
(42) seeing them home.
Friends made a great start with scores from Mohit Gupta (44) and
Shahrukh Khan (46) leading the way before a mid-innings wobble
alongside some late blows from Ajmal Afzal sent them to 176-5. In an
exciting finish, with rain in the air and the thunder roaring above,
the Bears fell short finishing on 158-1, with Will Arnold (50)and
Jared (50) top scoring.
Divison 2
Mad Marroccas enjoyed their highest ever score on Tuesday as they
crushed Old Fallopians 2nd VIII. Batting first, MM, walloped a
magnificent 224-3, despite losing an early wicket, Jamie Cox and
Robbie Jacobs both struck superb half centuries as they took the
bowlers to the cleaners on the fast outfield. In reply, Old
Fallopians never found their rhythm as they fell for 89, giving Mad
Marrocas a superb 135 run victory.
Broadway continued their good run as they saw off Division Two
leaders Expats. Batting first, Taimoor Ahmed led the way as Broadway
finished on 151-5. Despite leading batsmen Trent Bryne out for the
season with a broken shoulder, the Expats made a good start thanks
to in-form Alex Hickson (51) and Ed James (50). However with to
tight bowling from Broadway, Expats finished 15 runs short.
Victoria Lounge and Homerton enjoyed a close match on pitch 1. VL,
batting first edged their way to 174-5. Despite great hitting from
Homerton they fell slightly short finishing on 167-5, with Mark
Towle stranded on 49.
Meanwhile Masiha struck a confident 175-6 against L&Q Living, Fozal
Stevens (51) and Ian Blackwell (54) leading with the bat, alongside
Sheldon Greenland who continued his smashing form striking 5 sixes
in his innings of 40. Opener Keith Perry looked in good touch as
wickets fell around him, before his own dismissal on 43 as L&Q
finished on 126-6, 49 runs short.