MBCC First XI V's Sunday Barbarian 26/04/2008

The first match of the season was played on a glorious April day, and with the new scoreboard as well as a number of new players to look at it was an exciting start to the season. Things began well with M & B skipper Tom Wilding loosing the toss and so Bray took to the field. The Barbarians made a quick start racing to 80 – 1 after 8 overs, with Lyndon Baldwin and Hasnat Bhatti struggling to find their length. However the introduction of Karen Kumar for Baldwin frustrated the Barbarian batsmen, which allowed Bhatti to pile the pressure on with some aggressive and fast bowling finishing with strong figures of 2 – 38. He was replaced by Najib Bashir who spun bray into a very strong position, taking 4 – 25 in his 8 overs. A cameo at the end of the innings meant that Bray would have to chase 253 in order to win.

Bray began solidly with Wilde and Raja getting to 30 through 8 overs. However Wilde went for 11, and Bray then lost wickets steadily into the 20th over, when at drinks the score was 89 – 5. Bashir joined Kumar at the crease, and from then on there was only going to be one winner. The pair added 110 in just 12 overs, and when Kumar was dismissed for 57, he left Bray needing 51 runs in the final 8 overs. Bashir and Ballantyne then took Bray to within touching distance before Bashir fell for an excellent 89, leaving Ballantyne to win the game in the penultimate over with a meaty 6 over the drive, and an elegant straight drive for 4; remaining unbeaten on 30*.

Man of the Match: Najeeb Bashir