Wanstead & Snaresbrook (172/3) beat Westcliff-on-Sea (171 all out) by seven wickets

Essex Cricket League Dukes League Cup Quarter Final, Sunday July 11th

I was over at Chalkwell Park for the second time in four days but this one was a biggie for the hosts as the Division Two side were hosting the mighty Premier Division Wanstead & Snaresbrook for a place in the final four of the League Cup, but the home side were clearly huge underdogs in this one.

Wanstead of course were the current Premier Division champions too and were hot favourites to get through as said above, and after they won the toss they elected to stick Westcliff into bat and hope to try and bowl them out cheaply.

The match was scheduled to begin at 12.30pm, but when I arrived their just before midday the home side had already faced 18 overs of their innings as I quickly found out the match had begun at 11am instead, but I had no idea this was the case, but hey ho there was still plenty of cricket to be played or I was hoping that was the case anyway.

Westcliff had just lost their first wicket before I arrived, Lewis Wright was snared by Wanstead skipper Joe Ellis-Grewal for 38 in an opening stand of  71 with Charlie Lockhart, and they quickly lost Jonathan Pratt for just two and Westcliff were 80/2 and I was thinking to myself that maybe I was a bad omen!!!

It had been a decent start for the home side though against a pretty decent bowling attack, and they quickly got over this double wicket wobble to find themselves on 137/2 with Lockhart and Joe Robbins going very nicely indeed, and a decent score looked likely for the hosts, however once Robbins was dismissed for 32, the hosts collapsed to 171 all out in the 42nd over, with the spin of Ellis-Grewal, Jahansher Akbar and Nabeel Aziz doing the damage.

Lockhart was top scorer for cliff making 56, but after such a good start they had lost their last eight wickets for 34 runs, an alarming collapse in anyone's book, and it meant Wanstead would only require 172 from their 45 overs to reach the Semi Finals of the competition.

The hosts needed early wickets if they were to pull of one of the biggest shocks for sometime, and Adnan Khan, who had been given out LBW at the end of the Westcliff innings in rather controversial circumstances, charged in with the new ball and skittled Kishen Velani's off stump with a beauty to see the visitors 10/1, but thereafter Bilal Patel and Robin Das set about batting the visitors into a commanding position.

The pair put on a class 77 for the second wicket before Patel was snared by spinner Adil Ali, having the batsmen well caught at slip by Tom Baker, Ali was probably the hosts best bowler as he caused them problems, especially Adnan Akram, who he had tied up in knots on more than one occasion, and Akram was his second victim, caught by Lewis Grove for 16 and leaving the visitors on 120/3.

But despite this Wanstead had no real alarms as they cruised home to win by seven wickets with just under fifteen overs to spare, and Robin Das ended up unbeaten on 80 off just 68 balls, a real class knock indeed and it helped his side to what was a comfortable win in the end.

Fair play to Westcliff though who certainly gave their opponents a decent game, but that batting collapse was the undoing for them and they just never had enough runs to defend, but a really good run in this competition must be applauded and they can now concentrate on trying to win promotion to Division One.

For full scorecards and bowling figures of this game click here https://essexcl.play-cricket.com/website/results/4898695 

Here are some photos I took of the contest too...

Westcliff On Sea (111/4) beat Southend On Sea & EMT (110/7) by six wickets

Medlocks Southend Evening Cricket League, Thursday 8th July

My latest evening cricket saw me make the dash over to Chalkwell Park after a stressful day at work to see Westcliff host SOS, although on arrival I was greeted with rather un summer like weather as the rain was teeming down although weather apps suggested that it would dry up and be a pleasant evening.

This didn't look likely though and me and Scott W (who was also in attendance) were losing hope of any play as surely the uncovered wicket and outfield would be too wet once it stopped raining, but after a 40 minute delay to the start of play the players took to the field to begin the contest armed with a huge bag of sawdust to make those damp areas safer and drier, it's amazing what a bit of sawdust can do!!!

SOS batted first in what was now a 16 overs a side contest on a wicket that certainly offered a bit of zip, but the ball was coming on nicely to the batters and the visitors certainly got off to a decent start to build a sold platform and try and set the hosts a competitive total to chase, and although Westcliff then took wickets at regular intervals, SOS managed to post a more than decent 110/7 and set Westcliff 111 to win with a run rate of just under 7 needed in their 16 overs.

The first half of the innings saw a steady batting display, although at 38/1 and needing 73 more from the final eight overs they needed to put their foot down and increase their run rate, and with wickets in hand this was possible, and largely thanks to Batsmen One (whose name I do not have) they put their foot on the gas and when he retired out on 50 they needed less than a run a ball.

And sure enough they hit the winning run with an over to spare, 73 runs in seven overs, and record a good win and maintain their position at the summit of the table. A good contest it was though, and reward to me and Scott and everyone else there for remaining patient at the start when the rain was falling, all good things come to those who wait as they say!!! SOS may disagree with that though after falling to defeat. 

Here are some photos I took of the evening...

Gidea Park & Romford (223/2dec) beat Southend on Sea & EMT (76) by 147 runs

Hamro Foundation Essex Cricket League Division Two, Saturday 3rd July

The first Saturday in July proved very humid and at times damp, but in the end the sun shone through at Southchurch Park as hosts Southend on Sea & EMT took on Gidea Park & Romford in a Hamro Foundation Essex Cricket League Division Two contest.

The warm muggy (and occasional wet) conditions did not affect the game in anyway, and a prompt toss was won by the hosts who elected to stick the visitors into bat, and this turned out to be a bad decision as the visitors, who are flying high in the division this term, found batting fairly simple after a tricky early part of the innings scoring wise.

The hosts, who are struggling in the bottom two of the division, tried to make use of the early damp and humid conditions, but opening batsmen Sachin Vaja and Adam Thain saw off the new ball attack of Matt Mohan, Luke Guyler and Chris Hunt and went onto build the foundation for their innings, and in fact batted for more than thirty overs of the visitor’s innings.

They put on a very decent 131 for the opening wicket before Thain was finally out to host spinner Adam Hunt for 64, caught on the boundary by Kieran Butler (thankfully as I was right behind him and was grateful, he did catch it!!!), and then Adam Hunt picked up his and the hosts second wicket with one of his worst balls when he short slow ball was hit down Mohan’s throat by Vaja who made 68, he would have been disappointed to see his well made innings end that way, but they had laid a foundation for their side at 157/2.

No further wickets were to fall in their innings either as Hasitha Nirmal, who made a decent unbeaten 53, and Ubaid Kiani, who ended 31 not out off just 20 balls, put on an unbeaten third wicket stand of 66 as the visitors declared on 223/2 after 45 overs, meaning they had a minimum of 50 overs to bowl their opponents out to take the win.

The 224 target was pretty much out of reach for the struggling hosts who had struggled to score runs in their games this season, and apart from skipper Joe Sibbons, no one had really shone with the bat so far either, and therefore the home side didn’t even try to chase the target down and decided to just try and bat out their innings to claim a draw against one of the better sides in the division.

Sibbons aside though, none of the top seven batsmen got to double figures and some decent opening bowling from Will Chuter, who returned figures of 2-5 from ten overs, and James Pegram (1-13 from eight overs) and Sam Hewitt (conceded just twelve runs in five overs) stifled the hosts batsmen as they slipped to 13/3.

The main destroyer of the hosts innings though was spinner Nirmal, who backed up his unbeaten fifty with 4-25 in nine overs as he ran through the batting order as SOS & EMT slipped to 35/6 at one stage, and although Sibbons and Alex Gillespie, who by the way was the only other batsmen to reach double figures, put on 36 for the seventh wicket, when Gibbons was bowled round his legs by the superb Nirmal for 43, at 71/7 the game was almost over.

And another spinner, Sam Farrow, then came on to tidy up the tail, bowling Matt Ridgewell and then trapping Chris Hunt in front of the stumps to return figures of 2-6 in his 2.4 overs and end the match, dismissing the hosts for just 76 in the 39th over and complete a crushing win for the visitors here. Shaun Grant was unable to bat for the hosts as he pulled a hamstring during the Gidea Park & Romford innings, meaning only ten batsmen for the hosts.

Not a good day for the home side then who slip to the bottom of the table and are twenty points from safety with half their fixtures played, whereas Gidea Park and Romford went to the top of the standings after this result and hold a six point lead over second placed Wickford and a nine point lead over third placed Leigh on Sea with the top two winnings promotion to Division One, so the visitors are well placed with half their games to go.

For full scorecards and bowling figures of this game click on link here https://essexcl.play-cricket.com/website/results/4644266

And here are some photos I took during the day…