MBCC First XI V's Stoke Green 12/05/2007

On Saturday the Maidenhead and Bray 1st XI embarked on the their first match of the Thames Valley League. They were drew against Stoke Green who were the relegated side the second division from last year. It was a glum day with not much promise for a match but the cricket gods came to their rescue and provided more than adequate conditions.

M&BCC won the toss and elected to bat. We got off to a uneasy start after being 25-3 but a solid partnership between Najeeb Bashir (103*) and F.Chaudrey saw M&BCC through to a small recovery. Now in a position to potentially post a defendable score, M&BCC got to work and with some exquisite play by Bashir and backed up by Kennedy (30*) finished after 51 Overs with a very respectable 237-7.

M&BCC had a very good target to bowl at. After a few tight overs and some quick wickets from J.Coyne (16-6-51) M&BCC had Stoke Green in Dyer straights. Stoke Green then put in a valiant effort in keeping out some fierce bowling to revive their situation and then began the fight back. With some huge shots coming from S.A.Raja (63) and skipper S.Mcmullan Stoke Green had bonus points in their sights. A couple more wickets fell but Stoke Green reached 175 but then ,after a tidy clean up from S.Chaudrey (10.5 - 3 - 24), it was all over and M&BCC had their first 25 points of the season.