Old Fallopians Cricket Club Scorecard

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Sept 28, 2019

Friendly vs London Fields

Lost by 35 runs

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At the tea break: (L-R) Tim Castle, Umair Shahzad, Vishnu Dubey, Azaz Kahlil, Steve Hamilton, Hassan Khan, Asad Mushtaq, Jack Turner, Arif Godhi, John Shaw (kneeling). Not shown: Dhammika Perera

Played at London Fields
Report by Hassan Khan

This season's final act combined ecstasy and agony in a thrilling denouement.

Amid grey skies and a turgid track, skipper Steve Hamilton inserted a powerful London Fields (LF) side. Within the first 10 overs, the wicket, cratered with each ball bowled, resembled a lunar surface. Opening bowlers Shezad and Khalil were hostile but only a spectacular running catch from the irrepressible Dubey broke the opening partnership.

LF opener Alex was particularly harsh on some indifferent bowling but Mushtaq took three key wickets to keep us in the hunt. A score in excess of 200 was checked by the wily spin of Shaw, whose removal of Alex was a key turning point. Yet again, old-timers Shaw and Khan combined to demolish the lower order, assisted by superlative wicket-keeping from the agile Turner. Thus LF were restricted to 175, having threatened 250.

For our innings it was deja vu all over again ... we were 11 for three wickets after four overs, as Turner, Dubey and Godi were removed to leave our innings in tatters . A tense battle now followed between OF 's premier batsman Khalil and gangling fast bowler Laurie, who was threatening to win the match in one spell. But fortune favoured the brave as Khalil, dropped a couple of times, carved the giant through cover and cut him to size through backward point.

73 from 17 overs with Khalil and the elegant Mushtaq at the crease in an unbroken century stand....what could possibly go wrong?! A crazy run-out and Mushtaq was unnecessarily sacrificed. Henceforth, the incurable OF disease, COLLAPSITIS, took hold at a feverish pace, with Khan and Khalil hammering innocuous balls straight down the fielder's throat.

Agony now alternated with hilarity, as OF legend Tim Castle invented a new shot - the 'ballerina leg-glance'. With footwork Wayne Sleep would have been proud of, he moved to the off-stump and attempted to allow the ball to pass safely down the leg side ... only to be bowled leg stump!

Still, a match that ebbed and flowed saw discipline and big-match experience triumph over talent. So for the final match of 2019, I leave you with the immortal words of Feste in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night : "..our play is done. And we'll strive to please you every day ".

Footnote: A a special thanks to Vishnu for his outstanding contribution to OFCC. All the best in New Delhi.

Refueling station: Old Fallopians tuck in

London Fields 175 all out (34 overs)
Alex T b Shaw             78
Jason   ct Dubey b Khalil   2
Oli T   ct Godi b Mushtaq 10
Ruby    b Mushtaq          10
Tristan b Mushtaq          10
Muffi   ct Turner† b Godi   1
Tom     ct Turner† b Khan  22
Chris   ct Shazhad b Khan 10
Stuart b Shaw              1
Hugh    not out             9
Laurie run out            14
Extras (w 4, nb 1, lb 4)    9
Total                     175

Umair Shazhad 5-0-26-0
Azaz Khalil   5-0-22-1
Arif Godhi    7-1-26-1
Asad Mushtaq 7-1-67-3
Hassan Khan   5-0-24-2
John Shaw     5-0-31-2

Old Fallopians 140 all out (25.2 overs)
Vishnu Dubey    lbw b Laurie       0
Arif Godhi      ct Jason b Laurie 8
Jack Turner†    b Laurie           4
Azaz Khalil     ct Sag? b Muffi   46
Asad Mushtaq    run out           30
Umair Shahzad   ct keeper b Tom   20
Dhammika Perera ct keeper b Tom    9
Hassan Khan     ct Crispen b Bell 1
Steve Hamilton* b Bell             0
Tim Castle      b Tom              0
John Shaw       not out            4
Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 10, nb 4)    17
Total                            140

FOW 0-1 (Dubey), 0-2 (Turner), 25-3 (Godi), 100-4 (Mushtaq), 100-5 (Khalil), 123-6 (Perera), 126-7 (Khan), 136-9 (Hamilton) 140-10 (Castle)

Laurie      7-1-38-3
Hugh        4-0-31-0
Muffi       5-0-35-1
Stuart Bell 6-1-26-2
Tom         3.2-0-11-3