OPCC Match Reports for 20th – 21st August 2011
Saturday started as a sun-drenched day but early / mid afternoon rains came – the timing depending on how far west the game was played. Only one League game was completed thanks to much mopping and late sunshine!
The earlier Monday game and the following Sunday games were more fun – read on.
SNEL League
Old Parkonians 1st XI were at home to Ongar. No prizes for guessing that this fixture was (again) rain affected and abandoned before sufficient overs could be bowled under the 50/50 rules.
Batting first, Parks were at 116-7 after 28 overs when the umpires called it a day due to persistent rain, not abated after an early and prolonged tea interval.
Old Parkonians 2nd XI were due to play Ongar away, but the opposition have withdrawn this team from the League.
No report.
Old Parkonians 3rd XI drew at home with South Woodford in a rain interrupted ‘thriller’.
High flying South Woodford won the toss and invited the home team to bat first on a decent pitch, confident of their strong bowling line-up, fresh fron bowling last week’s opposition out for 32!. Despite losing early two wickets in the first ten overs, Taaha Naqvi and Chris Nutt steadied the ship with an excellent partnership which was halted by persistent showers for nearly 2 ½ hours. When the game was finally resumed at 5pm, Taaha lost his wicket, having scored his first half century for this season (53). Chris Nutt continued to bat well and produced another good partnership with Janagan Vijayanathan who made 19. Parks declared on 175 for 6 after 39 overs with Chris Nutt unbeaten on 53.
In the second innings, some excellent fielding by Parks brought two early run-out wickets, but the opening batsman Sachin Vara determined to attack the opening bowlers and was scoring runs rapidly to chase down the target. He was well caught at the long leg by Ibrahim off Mannicks Shankar for 47. On his departure, South Woodford lost three quick wickets to Vijay Vijayanathan (8-0-37-3) supported by some excellent catches by Janagan Vijayanathan and Amar Thanki, which slowed down the run chase. That is to say, until the number 8 batsman Lee Gumble came to the crease. His quick fire of 39 was turning the game as Parks kept the game moving with spin, but it was not quite enough for South Woodford to snatch a win when he was stumped by Alan Bouquet off the bowling of Nick Thorpe, going for a six to win the match off the last ball of their 29 overs. South Woodford finished on 171 for 7 – and stay 2nd in the division.
This was a terrific performance by Parks who need to win their last two games to stand a chance of avoiding relegation.
Old Parkonians 4th XI’s game away at Chingford was abandoned after 9 overs with the opposition at 22-0.
Victor Yatheesh (5-2-8-0) bowled well but rain brought an early end to proceedings.
Sunday
Old Parkonians Sunday A XI lost away to Fives and Heronians by 116 runs.
The Sunday A’s took on a very strong Fives and Heronians side and were asked to field first on a typically flat batting track at the Paddock ground. Despite a tight opening spell from Amar Thanki, which included the wicket of one of the openers, Fives’ (and former Parks) opener, Ed Buxton, took advantage of the short straight boundaries and hit a few sixes out of the ground which meant that Parks were soon bowling with an old replacement ball. This made batting simple and despite every effort to stifle runs and Kumeran Ravendradas’ and Alan Bouquet’s late combination to get Buxton stumped out for 141, Five’s were able to declare on 296 for 2; a supreme exhibition of batting.
Parks, determined to make a respectable reply, had a reassuring start ended early as A’s debutant, Shuja Naqvi, got out for the first time this season for 8 runs (his season batting average is now 89!). Despite four of the first six batsman able to get into double figures, the tight and accurate Fives’ bowling saw them unable to capitalize on their starts and Park’s were soon down to 93 for 6. With defeat before the last hour looming, Ibrahim Iqbal had other ideas as he strode out at 8 and quickly cleared the grounds with some brutal hitting of his own*. Support from Max Mukesh (14) and Jack Handley (11), allowed Ibrahim to reach his maiden fifty for the club. Parks were finally all out for 180 with Ibrahim last man out for a swashbuckling 65!
*The staggering number of lost balls meant the Heronians ended the game having to bowl with an old colt’s ball!
Old Parkonians Sunday B XI lost at home to Highgate by 5 wickets
Having been asked to bat first, Parks struggled on a pitch still damp from Saturday afternoon’s downpour. With the openers lost early, progress was slow. However, Vikram Handa (49) and Dhruv Patel (47) set about building a foundation for the innings. Scoring runs however, was difficult and Parks laboured to 166 of their 40 overs.
With the sun drying out the wicket, it was easier to bat later in the day and Highgate’s Ellerby (73) and Florence (32) made hay. Although competitive throughout, Parks did not have enough runs. This, combined with a number of dropped catches and some poor fielding meant that the target was reached for the loss of 5 wickets in 33.5 overs. Both Umar Iqbal and Shane Vamadevan bowled positively, the latter chipping in with 2 wickets for 33 runs in his 8 overs.
P.S. The Highgate captain admitted afterward that he was not expecting to chase down the modest total, as their top scorer on the day (dropped 3 times ) had not scored a run all year!
Colts
Old Parks Under 13s won at home against Newham on Sunday by 14 runs.
This was a friendly game against Newham, who were short of players so Parks’ U15 player Vikram Handa played for them. Batting first Old Parks scored 133 for 7. Sachin Bawa (31n.o.), Milan Raveendran (30 n.o.) and Dhruv Patel (19) batted fluently.
In reply, Newham were bowled out for 119 despite a well played 43 n.o. by Vikram Handa. Paran Kalley 2 for 12, Paresh Kalley 2 for 12 , James Grafton 1 for 22 and Dhruv Patel 1 for 15 were the wicket takers.
It was a good game of cricket won by a talented Old Parks Under 13 team.
Old Parks Under 13s lost away to Woodford Wells by 45 runs on Monday 15 August.
Woodford Wells invited Old Parks Under 13's to a friendly 40 match during their cricket week.
The Wells won the toss and elected to bat first. After losing an early wicket with the score on 28 they then had a 147 run partnership between Jack Massey (96) and Albert Morgan (77) before Massey was caught on the boundary going for his century by Milan Raveendran. The Wells finished on 254-6. Sachin Bawa (8-2-22-2) and Dhruv Patel (6-0-28-2) were the pick of the Parks bowlers.
Parks started strongly in reply with Dhruv Patel (48) and Milan Raveendran (30) hitting 87 before Dhruv was bowled 2 short of his half century, including ten 4's. Sachin Bawa (60 n.o.) then played a mature innings holding the batting together for 25 overs. But the target proved too great with Parks who finished on 209-7, losing the game by 45 runs.
This was an excellent match, enjoyed by all.