Scorecard

Hitchin III v Northwood Cricket Club 3rd XI on Sat 30 Jun 2012 at 1:00
Northwood Cricket Club Won NCC3 got sweet 30 points

Match report Having been robbed of a win and 30 points against Datchworth last week by a non-walking last wicket, we were all looking forward to some poetic justice against Hitchin. There are certain things you expect from a cricket match such as a pavilion with home and away changing rooms! But at Hitchin they do things slightly different.....at their 3rd XI ground an adapted 45 ft container decorated with an array of graffiti, which would look far more at home in Felixstowe docks, has to do!
Dicko lost the toss and we were promptly inserted!..... apparently on the basis, as we heard from one of their number afterwards... that Abbots had managed to succeessfully chase down our 200 runs...oh how wrong could they be!!!....
In the last couple of weeks Dicko has come to realise that the perfect opening partnerhip was right under his nose all this time...... and so Mackey and Rumpers answered the call
and padded up! Compared with Elstree, the wicket looked like Lords... apart from the odd low one.. but it was just nice not to have the ball 'popping'' on a length for a change! Mackey and Rumpers manfully played the ball on its merits and were soon into their stride, cutting the ball with expert precision and picking the gaps with ease! All was well before a down pour had us all running for the 'container'. Fortunately the shower was over before it had really begun and we were soon back out battling away before Macpie's eyes lit up with a half volley outside off stump which he failed to middle providing an easy enough catch in the covers. Mandar's intent was clear but he struggled to find any kind of fluency which was probably due to his bottom hand coming into play a tad too much! Rumpers played the anchor man role and at 75-1 after 25 overs foretold to Dicko that here was the perfect foundation for a score of 220!! Rumpers was feeling right at home by now and knows driving the ball for a caught and bowled was unfortunate considering he had got himself in and was looking very comfortable against the bowling. Mandar and Kharrum had a valuable partnership which saw us into three figures and beyond but it was not long before the former was bowled... exactly how he came to hear the death rattle was the cause of some debate...... Mandar was convinced the ball had taken a detour underground and popped up to hit the bails while Dicko had the far more straighforward explanation that his bat was not straight!! 
Harpreet continues to shine as a batsman. His steadfast 47 was full of text book straight drives and swash buckling cuts which played a big part in making our final total of 220 possible. At the other end Kharrum kept him company making a splendid 51, but it was his wicket which caused most consternation!! No one appears to have told their wicketkeeper that you actually need the ball in your hand when you break the wicket for a run out. Unfortunately, Yogi who was umpiring at square leg, remained unaware of this deception, and as Kharrum accepted this injustice, he turned to their wicky and said.. 'You know what you have done!' If their wicky had a conscience it did not show...  but it was just the first in a number of incidents of sharp practice by the oppo that made our eventual victory all the sweeter... after a very tasty tea!!.
After what seemed an eternity, the Hitchin openers eventually came to the wicket, one was a young chunky chappy, like a Yorkie Bar on legs, and the other was I think the one they called Dad!!... he must have been busy!! Yorkie bar looked compact... and solid, and the chase appeared to be on until he went to hit Reevo out of the park, and got a thick top edge..which popped up nicley for Mandar in the slips! After that we really started to believe this could be our day.... Shaky bowled some wonderfully loopy deliveries which were tickletastic... while Kieran kept the batsmen pinned down at the other end!! They both took 4 wickets each [surely a conspiracy to avoid buying jugs!!]with Reevo picking up the other two. Not even their umpire, who inferred that their failure to hear any edge or see any leg before had something to do with their grievance with our decisions, could spoil the party.. as the last wicket fell.. leg before..ironically!!
This was a vintage 3rd XI performance which followed the script perfectly..... every one played their part in a perfectly constructed innings.... starting with a solid base with the injection of runs coming just at the right time to put the pressure on a Hitchin side whose tail ending up wagging the dog and whose attitude was just not cricket!! If we can keep this fire in our bellies, my friends, then the world is indeed our oyster!!
 
Rumpers
 

Northwood Cricket Club 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 10w 6b 3lb 
for 8 wickets
23
220		        
Richard Mackey ct Rudd B Gale 28 5 1 1
John Clifford ct & Bowled Gale 26 2
Mandar Karnik b Baker 21 1 1
Khurram Rana Run out  51 6
Yogesh Toraskar ct unsure b Baker 2
Harpreet Chadha b Gale 47 8 1
Shaki Shoeb st wkt b Gale 11 2
Paul Reeve Not Out  5 1
Saad Khan b Gale 1
Kiran Kubal Not Out  5 1
Steve Dickson   2

Hitchin III Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
P Baker12.0341220.503.42
A Beaton13.023900.003.00
P Gale15.0256511.203.73
A Page10.004000.004.00
B Samuel 3.002200.007.33

Hitchin III Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
108 (36.3 overs)		     
S Dibb ct M Karnik b P Reeve 27
D Dibb ct S Dickson b P Reeve 11
Guest b Kubal 26
Beaton ct R Mackey b S Shoeb 11
Gale ct H Chadha b K Kubal 9
Rudd ct S Dickson b Shoeb 8
Chaudary b S Shoeb 1
Baker b K Kubal 4
Sammuels st R Mackey b Kubal 0
D Page Not Out  5
A Page lbw S SHoeb 0

Northwood Cricket Club 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Khurram Rana10.023700.003.70
Paul Reeve10.0231215.503.10
Shaki Shoeb8.323548.754.12
Kiran Kubal8.04441.000.50