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1st XI vs Hadleigh & Thundersley (Away) – League.
Hadleigh 171/9 from 45 overs.
Chelmsford 201/8 from 45 overs.
Chelmsford win by 30 runs.
Hadleigh & Thundersley Cricket Club hosted Chelmsford CC in the sixteenth round of fixtures in the Essex Premier Division on Saturday. The hosts, sitting comfortably at mid-table in fifth place were faced with an inform Chelmsford side who were looking to continue their run of six games unbeaten to place themselves firmly in control of the title. The visitors, having last faced defeat on Saturday 19th June to Wanstead, were also hoping that Brentwood would beat second place Wanstead to more than less confirm the 2021 title as theirs.
Chelmsford captain Jack Sterland won the toss and elected to bat first. Proceedings started well for the visitors as resident openers Sterland and Dan Hagen saw off Hadleigh’s opening bowlers to reach 46/0 after the first 10 overs. This good start from Chelmsford prompted the first bowling change for Hadleigh so Louis Poynter and Samuel Handley took the ball.
17 overs into the 45 over match, Sterland reached his half century coming off just 55 balls, prompting a ripple of applause from spectators and players. His sixth 50 of the season came after 64 minutes and included nine 4s.
However, the 18th over saw the hosts take their first wicket as Hagen chipped one to mid-off into the hands of Richard Revell from the bowling of Handley, meaning Hagen had to depart for 18 off 50. Handley with the first wicket of the match was looking to mirror his brilliant performance in the reverse fixture at Chelmer Park in which he took six wickets; including a hat-trick!
Hadleigh didn’t stop there though and things got worse for Chelmsford when Sterland nicked behind to keeper Darius Vapiwala off Poynter’s bowling in the next over. The Chelmsford skipper left the field with 54 runs off 60 balls and his side at 80/2 off 19 overs.
Brothers Ben and James Clifford were the batting pair for the visitors and the two were looking well together. But six overs into their partnership, B. Clifford was adjudged LBW by the umpire from the bowling of Handley and exited the pitch on 16 off 27. Handley with his second wicket of the day placed Chelmsford at 115/3 after 26 overs.
Oliver Devenish joined J. Clifford and the two gritted it out for seven overs, bumping their side up to 137/3 from 33 overs. On the second ball of the 34th over, Devenish decided to take a wild slog off Revell’s straight ball which resulted in the stumps being uprooted from the ground. Therefore, Devenish was sent marching for a fair 13 off 22 and Chelmsford placed at 139/4. Revell’s wicket taking didn’t finish with Devenish as the Hadleigh seamer claimed the wicket of Jack Cook three balls later after the Chelmsford batsman edged one behind to keeper D. Vapiwala. To J. Cook’s frustration, he departed with a duck and the visitors sunk to 139/5 after Revell’s double wicket 34th over.
Brad Green now joined J. Clifford and the pair put to rest any unease of losing another quick wicket by solidifying and putting on a 42-run partnership in six overs. The combo was ended in the 41st over when J. Clifford was bowled by Poynter for very good 49 off 62, painfully missing out on a half century by one run. Chelmsford at 181/6 after 41 overs.
With 4 overs of the first innings left, Liam Keaney joined Green and the two put on an important 20 before Green was run out on the penultimate ball of the innings. Mark Drain came to the crease to face the final ball with one aim which was to clear the boundary, but unfortunately this wouldn’t come into fruition as Poynter claimed his third wicket of the match after bowling Drain cleanly.
Chelmsford finished on 201/8 after 45 overs and set Hadleigh & Thundersley the target of 202 to win after lunch.
Hadleigh’s openers D. Vapiwala and Richard Harding were tasked with setting the home side off to a good start with the visitors opening the bowling with seamers Keaney and Drain.
Alarmingly for the host’s, their reply of 201 started terribly as they lost their first three wickets in the first five overs! Opening wicket-keeper batsman D. Vapiwala was bowled by Drain in the second over on Drain’s second ball for 1 off 7, placing Hadleigh at 6/1. In the next over, Keaney bowled a brilliant wicket-maiden which claimed the wicket of Harding for just 2 runs off 4 balls, putting the home side at 6/2. Keaney then also claimed the third wicket in the fifth over after Adam Forbes nicked one behind to keeper Green, which meant Hadleigh were 12/3 after the first 5 overs.
Chelmsford’s electric start was very well halted by Handley and Jack Wagstaff as the pair stuck in and reached the end 12th over in which was the conclusion of the opening bowler’s spells. Hadleigh were boosted up to 47/3 and the scoreboard was looking slightly better after Handley’s and Wagstaff’s interventions.
The introduction of spin proved to be an instant success for Sterland and his side as J. Clifford had Wagstaff playing one into the hands of Drain. Like Drain, J. Clifford claimed his first wicket of the day in his second ball. Wagstaff exited for a good 23 off 24 and Hadleigh were 47/4 after J. Clifford’s wicket-maiden 13th over.
Hadleigh and Thundersley’s innings declined again as they lost their 5th wicket in the next over. Seamer Drain had Handley edging one behind to keeper Green, meaning the batsman departed for 14 off 37 and placed Hadleigh at 53/5 after 14 overs.
The fall of two quick wickets brought Adam Soilleux and Ruben Vapiwala to the crease and the pair nicely soaked up twelve overs together before Chelmsford claimed their next wicket. Soilleux and R. Vapiwala put on a 21-run partnership across the twelve overs and batted intelligently to not throw away their wickets and keep their side in with somewhat of a chance of claiming a result. In the 27th over, Ben Waring ended the pairing after he had R. Vapiwala nicking off to keeper Green for 11 off 39 and placed Hadleigh at 74/6.
Haider Ali Syed Zaidi joined Soilleux and the two portrayed some very good middle order batting for Hadleigh and Thundersley by picking the gaps and being rewarded with half a dozen boundaries. This set their side into triple figures and onto 110/6 after 36 overs. After being hit for four 4s by Soilleux in his previous over, the combination was broken by James Liddiard after he banged one into Soilleux’s front pad which was judged LBW by the umpire and thus the batsman was sent on his way. A fairly good 38 off 73 for Hadleigh’s number six. Hadleigh were 115/7 after 37 overs.
Dobson linked up with Zaidi for the next six overs to bump their side up to 151 after an adequate 36 run partnership but the game looked twenty to thirty runs out of Hadleigh’s reach. Therefore, Zaidi and Dobson were resorted to trying to clear the rope, in which they executed pretty well, but it inevitably led to the loss of their wickets.
After smashing J. Clifford straight and over the top twice in a row (one over the netting and out of the ground into a neighbour’s front garden), Dobson was bowled on the last ball of the 44th over. He departed for a very decent 31 off 25 and Hadleigh were 166/8.
Zaidi soon followed as Keaney had him hitting one into the hands of Hagen the ball after, which meant the number 8 exited for a fine 37 off 51.
With 5 balls remaining, Revell and Poynter were faced with an impossible target but remained unbeaten and Hadleigh’s innings finished on 171/9 after 45 overs. Meaning Chelmsford take home a 30-run victory and their 7th win in a row. Also with Brentwood beating Wanstead by 39 runs, the 1st XI Division 1 title is almost certainly Chelmsford’s (barring a catastrophic collapse of batting and bowling when they play second placed Wanstead and third placed Brentwood in the last two remaining games of the season). Only 4 bonus points needed now for Chelmsford!
2nd XI vs Chingford (Home) – League.
Chelmsford 176/3 from 34.4 overs.
Chingford 175 all out from 39.4 overs.
Chelmsford won by 7 wickets.
With this win, another pretty emphatic one, the 2's all but laid claim to the 2nd XI Premiership title and will surely confirm this next Saturday away to lowly Oakfield Parkonians as a mere 3 bonus points is all that is required. But the team will obviously want to seal the title with a win and maintain their unbeaten record this season going into the final game at home to Wanstead on the last weekend.
11 of the previous 12 wins this season have come when bowling first, and Saturday was no different. Rob Hayto, captain in Cran's absence on the Costa de Southwold, won the toss - so Plan A then. Unlike most of the games on Saturday, this one started on time, albeit in slightly damp conditions and weather.
Raw youth and steady maturity combined in the opening pair. Whilst Neil Fergus's medium pace was steady and yielded (8-2-28-0), at the other end, Rishi served up something different, finding neither the intended length or direction. 4 balls, wides and no-balls were mixed up in just about equal measure. Oh, and 2 wickets , both the openers, including the number 1, Kamal, who looked halfway decent, but bowled by a fast (on-target) full toss for 25.
Rob relieved Rishi (4-0-36-2) and banished him to the outfield where he proceeded to be followed by the ball wherever he went, safely claiming 3 catches during the rest of the innings.
Harry Arnold, coming on as first change, was not quite so profligate, or as threatening. Fergs continued being Fergs. The third wicket pair added 60 at just over 4 an over and were starting to look a little more threatening coming up to the halfway drinks break.
Skipper Rob introduced spin, Stuey from the top end, himself from the bottom. In the penultimate over before drinks, Stuey tempted Noori (28) to hit him over the top, safely taken by Rish at long-on.
Nevertheless 97-3 for Chingford at the break, was a decent base on they could well potentially develop to a score of 200+.
Rob made a dent in that aspiration when having the number 5 caught (yes, by Rish) at mid-on. 112-4 from 24.
In the thirtieth over, Rob's off spin really broke the back of the innings, when he had the set batsman Mirsa (51) well held overhead by Chids at cover.
140-5 off 30, 10 overs to go.
The rest of the wickets were picked off for just 35 in the last 10 overs to leave Chingford all out for 175, 2 balls inside the 40.
The returning Harry Arnold castled 9 and 10 to finish with (5.4-0-29-2), Stuey (8-1-35-2) and Rob Hayto (8-0-24-3) both claimed another wicket each, with veteran Alistair Fergus! rolling back the years for a typical Al catch on the run at deep mid wicket for the former, and an LBW for Rob. Sean Sullivan (6-0-22-1) also chipped in with a wicket caught at mid-off by you-know-who!
Another face from the past, Miles Clark, made a welcome rare reappearance behind the stumps.
With the 2's confident that their batting power would be too much for Chingford's bowling, and that confidence proving to be not misplaced, the runs were were confidently knocked off with, er, confidence, and cricket-bats of course, with 5 overs to spare.
Hayto 37, Harry Page 50, Dutchy 35( in his last match of the season), Chids 30* and the omnipresent and ubiquitous Rish 8*. Harry's second league half-century being another step in his batting apprenticeship at this level.
Thanks, to Dave Chidley, for umpiring, and to our depleted band of faithful supporters (Cran Clan in Southwold this week). Special thanks to our dedicated roving reporter Trev the Twitter.
Guess what! - 'Momentum Maintained', still. COME ON the Ten Doeschate Champions!- Crush OP's on Saturday to seal the Premier Division title, and then no easing up in the following week against Wanstead. At stake for the 2's, is 'Fortress Chelmer 2021' tag, 'Indomitables 2021'
And good luck to Sterls the Stupendous (995 league runs!, Wow!) and his boys who themselves only need 4 bonus points from the the last 2 games to clinch the Essex League Premier Title, and this they will hopefully accomplish tomorrow at Chelmer against Wanstead.
And to Rory and the 3's who are still top but may need to win both remaining games to win Div1. A win against Ilford at Chelmer tomorrow should all but ensure promotion back to Premier.
Sorry, I am feeling a little giddy right now. But for the next 2 Saturdays, I may well be feeling more than a little giddy. Hopefully.
3rd XI vs Belhus (Away) – League.
Belhus 135 all out from 35.1 overs.
Chelmsford 136/5 from 33.1 overs.
Chelmsford won by 5 wickets.
Chelmsford Batting:
- Luke Wilson – 31. (Three 4s).
- Matthew Cook – 29. (Five 4s).
- Hugo Skepelhorn – 24. (Three 4s).
- Pranay Gogia – 19 runs. Two 4s).
Chelmsford Bowling:
- Matthew Cole – 8 overs, 3 maidens, 13 runs and 4 wickets.
- Abdul Baig – 7.1 overs, 1 maiden, 12 runs and 2 wickets.
- Tanay Mukherjee – 7 overs, 37 runs and 2 wickets.
- Rory Skepelhorn – 6 overs, 29 runs and 1 wicket.
4th XI vs Harlow (Home) – League.
Chelmsford 175/8 from 40 overs.
Harlow 142 all out from 35.3 overs.
Chelmsford win by 33 runs.
Chelmsford Batting:
- Nigel Guy – 62*.
- Paul Keaney – 47.
Chelmsford Bowling:
- Ben Lawrence – 5.3 overs, 13 runs and 3 wickets.
- Henry Pearce – 8 overs, 23 runs and 2 wickets.
- Jordan Campion – 8 overs, 40 runs and 2 wickets.
- Dan Cornell – 6 overs, 2 maidens, 16 runs and 1 wicket.
- Usama Ahmed – 8 overs, 39 runs and 1 wicket.
5th XI vs Benfleet 3rd XI (Home) – League.
Chelmsford 177 all out from 36.4 overs.
Benfleet 236/5 from 40 overs.
Chelmsford lose by 59 runs.
Chelmsford Batting:
- Mohammed Ahmed – 65*.
- Aditya Kuzhupilly – 35.
- Charlie Hagger – 29.
Chelmsford Bowling:
- Mohammed Ahmed – 5 overs, 36 runs and 2 wickets.
- Anisur Rahman – 6 overs, 3 maidens, 12 runs and 2 wickets.
- Anish Nikam – 8 overs, 49 runs and 1 wicket.
- Charlie Hagger – 6 overs, 42 runs and 1 wicket.