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Sat. 1st September 2007
1st XI (111) vs Mill Hill Village (176) Lost
(Home – 7pts)
The 1s fourth defeat of the season. Like the generous
hosts we are, we gift wrapped 30 points to a mediocre
Mill Hill Village team whom we should have walloped.
After winning the toss, Village were stuck in on
breezy, overcast day. Bagley struck with the second
ball of the game then took another and the Village
were 5/2. He and Shaw made further inroads, but catches
went down and somehow the village got to 97/6. At
least the dangerous Chris Gallagher went cheaply
trying to slog Bagley out of the ground and missing.
There was much hilarity when your correspondent failed
to complete a run-out, but the team weren’t
laughing as the 7th wicket added 47 runs before AP
could wrap the innings up. Bagley bowled unchanged
for 21 overs to take 6-50 and Shaw took 3-72. Tharic
was the other wicket taker.
AP batted before tea and dined on 32/3! ‘Sandy’ Kapugeekiyanadeparted
soon after the break, caught behind and then Tharic
was triggered for 39. The innings withered away painfully
in the face of decent, but not special bowling, with ‘Toine’ Shaw
the last man caught at bat-pad – apparently!
Let’s finish the league season with a win at
BA.
NB
2nd XI (169/9) vs Mill Hill Village (227/9) Drawn
(Home)
No report received … again.
3rd XI (233/8) vs Wembley (254/9d) Drawn
(Away – 9pts).
After last week's embarrassment against Twickenham
I had a feeling of deja vu when I was the only AP
player present at the start time of 12.30. I owe
a big thanks to Amit Bose and Randy Reid who took
it upon them to bring 5 on public transport and called
everybody else to ensure they were coming. We forfeited
the toss and took the field with 7 for a 1.00pm start
and by 1.20pm we were up to 10 - a 250% improvement
on the previous week. Wembley have a flourishing
colts section and two of their number enjoyed themselves
immensely, gorging 96 for the first wicket on their
tiny second pitch. One opener, all pimples, attitude
and a fair amount of talent, managed to rile ‘Mani’ Grover
by asking if one shot which passed the boundary on
the second pitch should count for eight. Thank you
young man, because at that point he was asking to
be taken off. With Shazad Hagi (3-74) rediscovering
his line and length, not having bowled for 4 weeks,
and Mani (3-68 from 20 overs) now fired up, we turned
the pressure on more. Naveed was introduced and took
2 wickets in his first over. At 150/6 we held the
upper hand but some inspired late hitting took them
to 254/9d from 49.5 overs.
We were in with a chance if one or two batsmen came
off. Randy played well for 24 but after a rare failure
with the bat from Mani we were struggling at 40/3.
Enter Arvind Damarla. Without appearing to exert
himself he played a great innings, full of forceful
drives, deft flicks off his legs and resolute defence,
dominating partnerships with Shiraz Mohammed and
Shazad. He feasted on the pies thrown by Charlie
Meyers, but the wily veteran had the last laugh,
bowling him 13 shy of a ton. Shazad (56) with his
uncomplicated (defend the good and smite mightily
the bad) approach and Naveed (26) the same, with
a bit more running between wickets, kept the chase
going. With 35 required from 4 over with two wickets
left we were still going for it. In the gloom they
brought back their two fastest bowlers – we
arrived late and had no right to complain – so
we had to shut up shop after losing one more wicket.
Chris Ellis, a top club man called up from the 4s
that morning and not having had much of a game, and
Amit both showed tenacity in defending resolutely
for 3 overs and denying Wembley the win. Chris enjoyed
a huge slice of luck when their keeper dropped a
regulation catch in the penultimate over but by that
time the keeper should have worn a miner's lamp.
Thank you to everybody for playing, making it enjoyable
and competing well. Despite the chaotic start we
showed Wembley that AP are no soft touch and the
maintained the reputation built by John Freestone
of being a tough team to beat.
DC
4th XI (133) vs HSM (312/5) Lost
(Home)
No report received.
Sun. 2nd September, 2007
1st XI (210) vs Hanwell (206/7) Won
(Away – 4pts)
A remarkable win and the best game we’ve had
on Sundays this season. Due to the lateness of the
Hanwell players at their own ground (!) – a
recurring theme this summer – both skippers
agreed to a 40 overs a side. The AP skipper demanded
a total of 200, and we have should have got 240 though
after we reached 190/5 with 10 overs left, but the
innings fell apart after a great stand of 68 for
the fifth wicket between Dave Gillman (32) and Manan
Banker (30). Earlier in the day, Rohan Da Silva scored
47 for the second game running and Tharic looked
threatening before he got careless and was bowled
for 25. 210 looked defendable
Bagley
and Banker took a wicket each after tea, but Hanwell were scoring too easily.
The skipper apart, the AP bowling was undisciplined with far too many four
balls while the fielding was atrocious, where in previous league games these
had been our strengths. Hanwell’s third wicket stand was worth 116 and
at 158/22, the game was their’s to win with wickets in hand. Tharic,
though, changed the game, clean bowling the home skipper JJ on 70 and the big
hitting Glen Lloyd for 43. This brought in two new bats with 5 an over required
off the last 10 and six wickets left. Bagley came back to bowl two tight overs,
one a double wicket maiden for 3-19. After a dodgy single over from Dave, Hanwell
had hopes of a dramatic win, but Manan (1-45) and Amit Bose (1-39) bowled well
at the death. A most satisfying win thanks to a great fight back with
the ball. As with all Hanwell-AP games, a good session in the bar was enjoyed
by all. We were promoted before the game started on 24 points – 2 ahead
of Uxbridge - and next week we have the chance to be divisional champions.
See you there!
NB
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