Red Sky at night...Strongroom are on fire
Highgate Wood, 6/21/2014
Strongroom won by 6 wickets
Red Sky: 186-6 [Naveed 43, Asim 59]
Strongroom: 190-4 [V.Venkateshan 56*, J.Rahman 45*, A.Hassan 40]
View the Scorecard
Strongroom faced a new opposition, Red Sky CC, an outfit born of a tasty looking shisha bar in Harrow. The day was sunny with the wicket looking hard and true. The Woods had delivered the biggest crowd of the year, complete with a live band. Red Sky had a young team with three players under the age of 13. Strongroom lost the toss and were asked to field.
An unfamiliar looking Strongroom side opened the bowling with Asif and Vinay. Both bowlers immediately found a good length and moved the new ball around. Asif was unlucky to find Red Sky opener, Atif, in great form. Easily dispatching two fours and a six from Asif’s second over. Undeterred,Vinay and Asif plugged away, Atif eventually playing on to Vinay for a breezy 19. Shah at the other end looked solid until stumped by the sharp Hassan. The batsmen forgetting that the ‘line’s the umpire’s’ and was stumped without grounding any part of his foot behind the white strip. Chris Duck took over from Vinay and quickly picked up a couple of wickets, he bowled well but struggled to find a consistent line. John Ranjeev, taking over from Chris, bowled with good zip, was unlucky not to pick up any wickets. At the other end, Joe Rahman bowled with great control, just 22 coming form his 8 overs, including a miserly 5 maidens. Ahmar came on to bowl a great spell of 7 overs, bringing an excellent change of pace and a strong line. He strangled the game and took the important wicket of Asim, who was starting to take the Strongroom attack apart on his way to an excellent 59. Ably support at the other end by Naveed, who steadily built a good score of 43. A clatter of wickets towards the end meant Red Sky finished on 186, a challenging and competitive score.
An excellent vegetarian tea was provided by Joe and Jimmy, the chili jam being a particular highlight. However, celery sticks and pickled onions yet again proved unpopular.
The Strongroom innings started with a bang, Zak hitting the first ball of the innings for four. This was improved on by Hassan, who got off the mark by hitting the first three balls of the next over for consecutive fours. Although Atif was bowling some useful left-arm medium, Hassan continued at a canter. Unfortunately, Zac flashed at wide one and left for seven. Sajid hit some powerful drives on his way to 14. Vinay arrived at the crease with Strongroom wobbling at 40-2. Vinay looked composed and provided a good foil for Hassan, who continued with some excellent shotmaking on his way to 40. A stand of 40 leaving Strongroom at 84-3 when Jimmy arrived at the crease. He took 14 balls to get of the mark, and then played a poor shot from the useful Naveed to leave for four. Joe Rahman, promoted after a strong batting performance on tour, came in at six and never really looked in any trouble as he and Vinay put together a match winning partnership of 87. Vinay particularly impressive as he recorded his first Strongroom 50. Powerful hitting combined with clever placement, kept the scorecard ticking over as Strongroom chased down 186 in 30 overs, scoring above a run a ball to record a good win. Finishing in plenty of time to head round to a Gower BBQ.
Written By: J.Hall
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