Match Report

Saturday 2 May 2009, at Cavendish Sports Ground, Field End Road, Eastcote - Lost by 31 runs (Ref. 200903)

Debuts: Ken Cordery, Mark Windsor

As in their opening match Wealdstone Corinthians reached a promising position in both innings, only to see their opponents bounce back to win. Lankians recovered from a precarious 142-8 to build a useful total when their last two wickets added 54 in the last 7 overs. Corinthians, by contrast, although reducing their own target to 54 from the last 7 overs available, contrived to lose 7 wickets in the last 7 overs they actually faced. A feature of the match, played throughout in sunshine, was the batsman friendly nature of Cavendish, a phenomenon usually seen only in July. It enabled Andy Naylor to get off the mark there for only the second time since 2007, and Andy Clark to score the first home six of the season. In adding 80 fluent runs the pair not only set up the chance of victory but also eclipsed the Cavendish 4th wicket partnership record of 68. The death or glory charge continued to see runs flow, until the skipper holed out trying to clear mid off with Corinthians just 19 balls away from the safety of a draw.

Lankians 196 (43 overs), D Shah 3-34, N Shah 2-22, P Cundy 2-42, S Brown 1-41, M Windsor 1-52

Lankians asked if they could bat first to cater for a photographic project, and this suited Steve Brown who won the toss. Early inroads with the new ball would help restrict one of the better batting sides Corinthians normally face. In the first over Brown was unlucky not to dimiss Analin, who was dropped at cover. Mark Windsor swung the ball prodigiously in his 12-over spell from the Pavilion End, and deserved more than one wicket. Brown had Analin well held at slip by Phil Cundy and Windsor, who had conceded two sixes off the big-hitting Irfan, got his own back by bowling him for a rapid 38. Left-handed opener Aroshan survived a confident run out appeal with a direct hit from Narendra Shah, who bowled Guna and Jit, and also looked to have Aroshan stumped. Phil Cundy replaced Windsor and took a wicket with his first ball, having Gee smartly held at slip by the other debutant Ken Cordery. Aroshan was finally run out by Andy Clark for a patient 46, and Lankians were 118-6. Their batting prowess continued right down the order, though Cundy had a catch dropped at fly slip and after he yorked Harshand the number 9 Viraj didn't last long. He failed to spot the slower ball from Dharmik Shah, who had arrived late due to work commitments. Iga joined Shameel to add 35 in less than 5 overs before being caught behind off Dharmik, who also took the last wicket by bowling Shameel for 35 with the last scheduled ball before the declaration. It was good to bowl a side out at last, though as time game specialists Corinthians hadn't set fields to stop the boundaries in the last few overs.

Corinthians 165 (33.5 overs), A Naylor 71 (89 balls), A Clark 24, M Windsor 21, Aroshan 4-23

For some unknown reason the last hour was scheduled for 6.15pm, so Corinthians only had 37 overs to reach the target instead of more than 40. Andy Naylor wasted no time by cutting the first and fourth balls of the innings for 4, and added a 2 off the next. Raj Meswani got off the mark with a 2 off Iga, but then played a loose shot off Harshand and was bowled. A four to third man and a leg glance brought early runs for Chris Clark, and though there were no more boundaries for 12 overs the score kept moving. Clark was caught off Harshand for 7, and after a double bowling change Chris Brown was bowled in Viraj's first over for 2 to make it 38-3. Naylor reached 30 with a cover drive for 4 and a single off Jit, and took the score to 58 at the start of the last 20 overs with 8 runs off Viraj, who also conceded 5 no balls with a beamer in the same over. The required rate was 7 an over, and the next went for 9 as Andy Clark hit his first boundary and one of the three Lankian wicketkeepers conceded 4 byes. In his first over Panjit was lofted by Clark for 6 over long on, whilst Naylor pulled Viraj for 4 past square leg to complete his 50 from 69 balls. Irfan went for 10 in his first over before bowling Clark to end the stand of 80 in 12 overs. After scoring 2 Ken Cordery departed the same way, and it became 129-6 when Naylor was deceived by Aroshan's second delivery (or third if you count the wide). Mark Windsor made light of this, slamming 4,4,6 in the rest of the over. In the next over Narendra Shah was caught at deep mid on, the batsmen crossed and Windsor struck another 4. The target was now 48 from 6 overs, but a wicket fell for the fourth over in a row when Windsor was bowled by the left arm spinner for 21 made from just 11 balls. Although Dharmik Shah pulled Irfan for two fours he was caught in the deep off Aroshan. Steve Brown pulled another 4 next ball, but was then caught at mid off. For Corinthians this entertaining innings was their highest in a losing cause ever achieved at Cavendish.