MBCC Fourth XI V's NPL Teddington 3 26/07/2008

Bray 4th recovered from a disappointing defeat at the hands of British Airways last week with a thrilling away win over NPL Teddington this week.

Skipper Vaja lost the toss and the home side elected to bat on a scorching hot afternoon. Whilst Bray toiled in the field, the home side did not fully capitalise on the ideal batting conditions taking 34 over to post 100 runs. Two controlled spells by opener Shazad Din saw him bowl 20 overs conceding a paltry 57 runs. Immie Khan at the other end was just as economical, bowling 18 overs for the loss of only 40 runs. The dismissal of M Pitts on 79, the only batsman batting fluently at that point – edged to Sidwell at wicket off the outswing of  Owais Bhatti put a stop to any hope of NPL accelerating the rate. The innings was closed after the maximum 52 overs for a mere 191 runs. Disappointingly for the away side 44 of these had come via extras.

It would seem that the result was a foregone conclusion. However there were some shocks in store. The loss of Opener G Cheema and no 3 bat H Cheema in successive deliveries to the gentle inswing of opposing skipper T Sullivan rocked Bray. Worse was to come. At the end of the eighth over after the loss of two more soft wickets the Bray reply stood in tatters at 18 for 4. The concern on the boundary was palpable and memories of the previous week’s batting collapse was at the forefront in the minds of the remaining batsmen.

Having been advised to take their time and play themselves in, first Omar and then Immie Khan then took the fight back to the opposition. The following period of play was not for the faint of heart. (On either side).  Sheer naked aggression and a critical dropped catches saw the reply rocket to 123 for no further loss. This 105 partnership had been brought up in just 12 overs. The fielding side looked shell-shocked by the rapid reversal of fortune.

Then Omar dropped his guard and was trapped LBW for 36 (7-4s, 1-6). The stumping of I Nawaz 2 overs later left the game wide open once again.

This brought S. Vaja out to the middle and combining well with Immie the scoring continued at between 5 and 6 runs an over  until the loss of the latter for a well earned 86 (10-4s,6-6s). The score now stood at 170-7 after 33 overs. With the scores tied, Vaja survived a millimetric run out call. The winning runs two balls later came as an anticlimax after all the earlier excitement.

All things considered, 20 well earned points to keep the side in the chase for second place behind runaway leaders British Airways