Vinay crosses the line!
Highgate CC, 4/17/2022
Highgate won by 3 runs
Highgate: 237 [Ban 74, Billy 53]
Strongroom: 234-7 [V.Venkateshan 102*, Ilyas 43]
View the Scorecard
Hmm, bit of a curious one this. A ‘normal’ XI and game for Strongroom, but a very mixed XI for Highgate, giving some youngsters and ‘lower’ team players a chance among some of their top players getting an early season airing. So, although close with plenty of good cricket, it strangely felt not that close or especially competitive at times, with an occasional lack of focus or intensity. We lost the toss. Highgate notched up a challenging 237. Opener Billy ticked over and middle order lads Ben and Angus motored along with some brutal long-distance hitting that threatened several games of tennis. Arif bowled superbly. Nisar broke a crucial spell with some nuggety overs. Sandeep looked in good early season rhythm. Mario looked like he wasn’t fully out of hibernation and needed some oiling. Naveen took some tap and wasn’t allowed to settle. Vinay came on late and mopped up four wickets with some full, brisk and accurate deliveries. It was a lovely early season sunny day. Jon and Guy turned up among the crowd. Our openers Gwyn and Vinay purred along, especially Vinay who right from the start looked in imperious form. So it proved to be as he assembled his first ton - a chanceless and high-quality knock. A joy to watch, we hope to see more in future… Then Vinay retired on reaching 100, and we suddenly had a serious wobble, losing wickets. Ilyias played an excellent, steadying hand, but it all unraveled rapidly. Despite that, we still seemed odds-on likely to nab the win, only needing 20 off the last 5. Somehow we failed. It was like the lower order had got too comfortable on the benches, watching the game in the sun, and they (we) all failed to tune in and get going. Nobody could get more than a single. Even the last couple of overs looked a bit lacklustre despite the win being possible up to the last ball. Highgate done good. They seemed to have some good overs held back in reserve and maybe could have put it out of reach earlier. Both sides seemed to enjoy the early season game and were glad it was close. Some good individual performances. Just not much evidence of particularly well-gelled teams competing to win.
In this image below, we Vinay enjoying his moment of scoreboard glory.
Written By: D.Gower
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