Played at Theydon Bois, Essex
Report by Steve Hamilton
Another sizzling summer's day, temperatures peaking at 32˚C. We
arrived at the lavish home of Theydon Bios expecting a comfortable
victory.
I lost the toss and their captain Ahmed Tariq
elected to bat. Our opening bowlers were successful in taking early
wickets removing both openers. First Yousaf for six after he hit the
ball straight to mid-off where Jakaria took the catch. The bowler
was our leading wicket taker Talal Ali, who is now on 13 wickets
this season.
Then Umair Shahzad got his reward, deservedly
removing their premier batsman A Tariq for 26. The batter was undone
by the pace and extra bounce that found a slight nick and went
behind straight into the hands of our keeper Junaid.
I was
fortunate enough to take the wicket of Tunks for 28 with a full toss
that got smashed cleanly towards cow corner where Talal was in the
right place to take an effortless clean catch.
Theydon Bios
went from 64-3 off 13 overs to 161-3 off 27 overs. A total of
225-plus definitely looked on.
With 13 overs left and seven
batsman in the locker room to come, we needed to take wickets and
slow down the run rate. Jakaria Ahmed and Rashid Mohammed did
exactly that!
Jakaria clean bowled Hammad for 44 with his
third ball. Two overs later Jakaria delivered a yorker that was too
quick and too good for young colt Harry, dismissing him for three.
Then there was a superb piece of fielding from Sam Butler at
deep-extra cover. He picked up the ball, released it speed and
delivered the perfect throw to Jakaria, who took off the bails to
remove Adnan, run out for 57.
Jakaria then delivered yet
another yorker to clean bowl Spell for 13. He finished with
spectacular figures of 6-0-24-3
Rashid cleaned up the tail,
first removing Small for four who hit the ball straight to Azaz at
long on. Azaz took the catch and then celebrated in comical fashion
by removing his cap and running around as if we had won the World
Cup! One ball later Rashid trapped M Tariq leg before for 6.
Rashid was unplayable and finished with immaculate figures of
7-2-17-2.
Theydon Bios lost their last six wickets for 30
runs in 11 overs and their final total was 201-9 off 38 overs.
We got off to dreadful start in our reply, losing early wickets.
Asad and Junaid both got starts of 24 and 23 respectively but never
progressed. We lost our top four batsman and at 59-4 off 14 overs we
looked in big trouble!
Now we had to dig deep and show some
fighting spirit to claw our way back into this contest.
Umair
had taken a blow to the body earlier on while fielding and was
feeling fragile. He struggled at the crease for a good few overs
before finally settling down after a some close calls and dropped
catches. As he would say, he rode his luck! Eventually he settled
down and took full advantage of those previously missed
opportunities!
In contrast, Talal came to crease with
composure and self-belief from the beginning. He definitely set the
tone for our road to victory. Talal was the dominant batsman in this
fifth wicket partnership of 100 runs. He was at complete ease
throughout his innings of 54 which included ten fours.
Umair
gradually went up through the gears and soon started to find his
natural rhythm. His timing was sublime. He scored an unbeaten 71
which included 13 fours and one six. He took us over the winning
line in style with two consecutive fours.
Such a courageous
performance was just what was needed for victory.
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