Vinay shows his class
Roding Valley CC, Buckhurst Hill, Essex, 7/19/2015
Strongroom won by 36 runs
Strongroom: 264-7 [V.Venkateshan 92*]
London Nigerians: 228-3 [S.Legbe 90*, M.Gabbay 82*]
View the Scorecard
This was a new venue for a Strongroom vs. Nigerians game, where we ventured deep into the Essex hinterland of Buckhurst Hill, at Roding Valley CC. It was a nice day, and weirdly very windy out in the middle.
We won the toss on a good-looking, dry surface. We featured four debutants, due to a struggle for players recently. Jimmy (20) and Grant (35) started well. The pick of the bowlers was Solomon, whose rhythmical action always looks good from side-on. Gabbay also bowled well, and achieved some lateral movement assisted by the strong wind blowing diagonally across the pitch. Youngster Karim had a curious action, and proved expensive. Tade was rusty though, and overall the Nigerians conceded 77 extras - a staggering total which also pushed back the timings of the game even further. This included around 42 wides. Vinay went onto play his best innings yet for Strongroom (92*), and was unfortunate to miss out on his first ton. As the innings neared the final 7-8 overs he really increased his hitting, and put on a show of swashbuckling yet elegant strokeplay. However, he was supported brilliantly by debutant Steve Hamilton (13*), who did what he had to do in order to put on 90* for the 8th wicket. This stand was crucial in getting us to a decent total of 264.
As always, a solid and tasty tea provided by the Nigerians - a plastic tub for each player with Jollof rice, chicken and plantain. Heavy food!
We opened with the spin of Joe Rahman and debutant Raj, in a bid to unsettle the openers. However, the surface proved very friendly to batting, and aided by a rapid outfield, there was a small margin for error. Hassan Khan bowled well on his debut and picked up two wickets, and his debutant colleagues John Shaw and Steve also both bowled very tidily - both were unafraid to toss the ball up. After 18 overs the Nigerians were 101-2, with both Gabbay (82*) and Solomon Legbe (90*) playing very well. However, it was very curious how they left their assault on our total to the last 6 overs - which seemed much too late. By this stage they needed 100 to win, and although Solomon cleared his front leg and struck some mighty straight 6s, it was simply a case of too little too late. Overall this made for a flat finish to a high-scoring game, and we finally concluded at 8:45pm!
Drove home to an amazing sunset.
Written By: J.Gower
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