Theale & Tilehurst Friendly XI vs Holyport 23rd April 2006

Report by Fingers

Following heavy overnight rain which had continued in to mid morning this game was very much in doubt. However, a late morning pitch inspection confirmed that the pitch was playable although the opposition were initially disbelieving and ‘phoned for a third time just before leaving Holyport to check it was still on. Rog’s suggestion that after having the first two games I was due to play in cancelled it would have taken heavy rain all day and thunder and lightning for the game to be called off may not have been too far from the truth though.

On arrival their confidence in the playing conditions changed to the point that on winning the toss they elected to bat. This also suggested a degree of confidence in their batting line-up; this appeared fully justified when Khan played his first shot. It didn’t go for any runs but it just smacked of class and was one of those occasions when you instantly think “oops, we could be in a bit of trouble here”.

These initial impressions were soon confirmed and as competently as Cox played at the other end the majority of the runs were coming from Khan and instead of the bowlers being able to exploit some dampness in the pitch the pressure was firmly back on them. Once Khan went past fifty his concentration went a little and he became more expansive and enjoyed a little bit of luck until he ran past one to give Ian a straightforward stumping. Conversations with the umpires along the lines of “he looks a useful new player” led to the revelation that Mr Khan’s usual position was opening the batting for Slough in the Home Counties Premier Division.

Khan’s dismissal didn’t stop the flow of runs as Peter Messina came in and played equally as fluently and took the total past 250 when 170-180 would probably have been par for the course.

In a straight 40 over game the chances of a young T&T side chasing the 254 needed for victory were slim to say the least. There was a good partnership between Mo and Nehal for the second wicket as both had good time in the middle but they were unable to score at the pace necessary to keep the game alive as a contest.

However, once they were dismissed the only other innings of any substance came from James as Messina and Khan entered the fray for the second time. Messina bowled Khadim and Hamad with consecutive yorkers and then Khan decided it would be good to test out the middle of the pitch as he worked up a decent pace on what was a slow pitch. This proved too much for many in the lower order in deteriorating light until Bob came in and showed how it should be done. There was a suggestion that Bob might have been motivated by me starting up the mower as he took guard but he decided the best way to play Khan was from down the track as he advanced before smacking the ball through extra cover for four, my opinion is that Bob was able to play as well as he ever does on the grounds that it doesn’t matter how dark it is if you bat with your eyes closed.

The game ended with a comfortable victory for a strong Holyport side by 105 runs.

BERKSHIRE LEAGUE SCORECARD
Home Team		Theale and Tilehurst						Away Team		Holyport
Date of Match		23rd April 2006						Played at		Theale

		Team						pts	Result	Team				pts
Result		Holyport							beat	Theale and Tilehurst

1st Innings of		Holyport												Rate Per Over
	Name	How Out			Who			Bowler		4's	6's	Score		Score	W	Bwl
1	G Khan	st			I Reeves			B Cooper		12	2	91	1
2	C Cox	bowled						B Cooper		6	0	37	2
3	P Messina	retired								7	2	62	3
4	P Davies	ct			R Puri			I Narwal		0	2	14	4
5	S Wooldridge	not out								0	1	20	5
6	T Leyton	not out								2	0	11	6
7													7
8													8
9													9
10													10
11													11
							Byes	9					12
							Leg Byes	0					13
							Wides	5					14
							No Balls	4					15
									Extras			18	16
													17
							Wickets	4	Total			253	18
													19
Bowling			O	M	R	W							20
1	R Williams		9	1	53	0							21
2	M Seghir		6	1	19	0							22
3	R Puri		6	0	48	0							23
4	A Ahmed		5	0	31	0							24
5	B Cooper		8	0	66	2							25
6	I Narwal		6	1	27	1							26
7													27
8													28
													29
Fall of Wicket													30
	Score	Outgoing Bat				Stand of							31
1	138	1				138							32
2	143	2				5							33
3	176	4				33							34
4													35
5													36
6													37
7													38
8													39
9													40
10													41
													42
													43
													44
													45
2nd Innings of		Theale and Tilehurst												Rate Per Over
	Name	How Out			Who			Bowler		4's	6's	Score		Score	W	Bwl
1	R Puri	ct			P Morgan			K Baillie		0	1	11	1
2	M Seghir	st			-			P Morgan		0	0	18	2
3	N Bhatt	ct			P Messina			P Morgan		3	0	42	3
4	K Aslam	bowled						P Messina		0	0	8	4
5	J Codd	ct			-			G Khan		5	0	29	5
6	H Ali	bowled						P Messina		0	0	0	6
7	I Reeves	bowled						G Khan		2	0	14	7
8	B Cooper	ct			T Leyton			G Khan		0	0	1	8
9	I Narwal	ct			-			G Khan		0	0	1	9
10	A Ahmed	bowled						T Leyton		1	0	4	10
11	R Williams	not out								1	0	7	11
							Byes	1					12
							Leg Byes	2					13
							Wides	9					14
							No Balls	1					15
									Extras			13	16
													17
							Wickets	10	Total			148	18
													19
Bowling			O	M	R	W							20
1	P Davies		8	4	7	0							21
2	K Baillie		6	0	31	1							22
3	M Griffiths		6	0	26	0							23
4	P Morgan		7	0	33	2							24
5	P Messina		4	0	11	2							25
6	G Khan		5	0	26	4							26
7	T Leyton		3	1	10	1							27
8													28
													29
Fall of Wicket													30
	Score	Outgoing Bat				Stand of							31
1	15	1				15							32
2	76	3				61							33
3	86	2				10							34
4	104	4				18							35
5	104	6				0							36
6	120	5				16							37
7	130	8				10							38
8	133	7				3							39
9	139	10				6							40
10	148	9				9							41
													42
													43
													44
													45