Match Report
Crusaders opened the season with a draw at Chingford, with all result possibilities very much alive up to the last few overs.
Chingford won the toss and elected to bat, against a Crusaders team fielding four debutants from the Lucky Singh Cricketing Academy.
Gajinder and Pommie kept the openers pretty well occupied in the opening exchanges, with only the occasional boundary to the short side giving Chingford's innings any impetus. Gajinder made the initial breakthrough, removing the obdurate Blake for a ponderous 12. The rest of Chingford's innings followed a similar pattern to last year's game, with our hosts happy to occupy the crease with out any real attempt to up the scoring rate.
After 49 overs Chingford obviously felt they had got enough, or taken enough time out of the game, declaring at 194-6. Not quite the 56 overs of last season, but still just short of 3 hours in the field for Crusaders and the prospect of having 45 minutes + 20 overs to chase the target.
Crusaders got off to a positive start, with Nita and Spud putting on 46 for the opening wicket. Gajinder fired a quick 23, taking the score to 80 before Spud was victim to a scandalous LBW decision.
Needing about 100 from the final twenty overs, Crusaders were in a strong position, but defensive bowling from Rehman - bowling into the feet - meant runs became hard to come by. A solid fifty from Chand was not enough to get us over the line and a couple of late wickets briefly gave our hosts a sniff of victory. Inspirational Skipper Pommie calmly batted out the final over to ensure Chingford did'nt gain a victory they would have scarcely deserved.
