Match Report

Saturday 04 July 2009, at Hazelwood Lane Sports Ground, Palmers Green - Lost by 9 wickets (Ref. 200912)

Debut: Amit Jhaveri

A dramatic batting collapse that saw Wealdstone Corinthians lose 9 wickets for 23 runs cost them any realistic hope of extending their winning run to five matches. After reaching the promising position of 49-0 from 10 overs they lost top scorer Raj Meswani for 27 and never recovered, succumbing to the variable bounce exploited by Steve Copus and the off spin of Karl Cullen. Despite losing opener Ray Victor in the 5th over Mayfield cruised to a deserved victory in the 19th over. Their bowlers used an unpredictable pitch more effectively than the visitors, and on occasions their batsmen had the luck needed to survive in such conditions.

Corinthians 82 (27.3 overs), Raj Meswani 27 (32 balls), A Naylor 19 (44 balls), K Cullen 4-12, S Copus 3-26

Although skipper Steve Brown later claimed he would have inserted Mayfield, he was not present when the toss took place so his deputy Chris Clark chose the normal option for a warm afternoon. Raj Meswani belted Copus for 4 second ball of the match, and Andy Naylor drove Charlie Goodchild for 4 past Victor at cover. Meswani preserved the symmetry by driving Copus to long off, and added two more boundaries when he faced Goodchild for the first time. Naylor emulated this, scything the youngster to backward point and clipping a full toss behind square leg for another four. However, he was missed at gully and could twice have gone to Copus when a top edge just eluded keeper Swann and an easier chance was put down by mid off. Next ball Copus, who off a short run was generating pace and bounce, found the spot to make the ball keep very low, and it hit middle stump. The batsman felt it had pitched and rolled, but the no ball was not given. By this time Raj Meswani had holed out at gully, trying to cut a wide one from Goodchild, who had also trapped Malcolm Horwill LBW. Andy Clark pulled Cullen over mid wicket for 4, and Chris Brown played the shot of the innings, an exquisite cover drive for 4 off Copus, to take the score to a still promising 62-3. Within 10 overs a paltry 7 singles and 3 extras had been added, for the loss of 6 more wickets. Firstly Andy Clark was caught at deep mid wicket off Cullen, Chris Brown was LBW to Copus, who then bowled Amit Jhaveri for 0. Phil Cundy went back to defend another ball that kept low but hit his off bail to give a soft wicket to Cullen, who then slid one past Akshay Samarth's defences. Phil Connor replaced Copus down the slope, and the left-armer had really done his homework on Chris Clark, serving up a series of "Jagger" balls. One did the trick by landing on the bails, though somehow this was adjudged to have passed the batsman above shoulder height. It wasn't long before a flatter delivery did bowl him, the fifth ball of Connor's second over to be precise. In his 47th innings for the club Rohan Meswani despatched a juicy full toss high over square leg for his first ever 6. This left Chris Brown (56 innings) as the only current regular able to challenge Andy Clark's record of 268 innings without a 6. In the next over Steve Brown mowed Cullen to the long off boundary but was bowled next ball, leaving Rohan stranded with a rare scoring rate of 600phb.

Mayfield 84-1 (18.4 overs), S Brown 1-23, G Morgan 30*, L Swann 27*, R Victor 24

The highlight of the rest of the day was the lovely tea. Steve Brown and Akshay Samarth each bowled a tight first over, then Ray Victor started to swing the bat. He gave a low chance off Akshay to mid off, but Amit couldn't cling on, and Victor went on to hit the Klingon aficionado for two fours at the start of the 5th over. Later in it he hoisted a straight ball for 6 over long on, though was on his way next ball when Brown cleverly bowled a slightly wider line. Another expansive shot produced a skier that Raj Meswani held at point to make it 29-1. On the ground where he took his first wicket, as well as hit his first 6, Rohan Meswani replaced Brown in the attack, and exerted good pressure. Akshay continued to beat the bat, but any balls that kept low eluded the stumps. Morgan and Swann rode their luck and developed a partnership that gave Mayfield their first ever home win against Corinthians. The only thing that was cleaned up after this was keeper Andy Naylor's face, when a length ball from Chris Clark reared up and split his lip. Phil Cundy took the gloves, Malcolm Horwill kindly took on the medical duties and Naylor took the field after a couple of overs' absence to witness the inevitable.