Match Report
Sunday 3 May –v- Charlatans at Woolwich Barracks
Crusaders crumbled meekly to defeat at the hands of Charlatans, producing a desperately fragile batting display at the picturesque Woolwich Barracks. Having won the toss, Wajih opted to field, despite the pitch looking firm and the pavilion boundary inviting. His decision appeared to be vindicated as Charlatans struggled to adapt to the pace of the pitch and the complete lack of pace of Mr Taylor. In tandem with new recruit Imtiaz Ali, Mike produced a miserly opening spell, returning figures of 1 for 9 from his eight overs.
Despite struggling to score quickly, Charlatans demonstrated a level of patience that was severely lacking in the Crusaders response. None of the top order was prepared to throw their wicket away and gradually with the aid of some well run singles, the score mounted.
Jabs and second debutant Waheed Qamar took over bowling duties, with Jabs making an immediate breakthrough to remove Curtis-Brignell. The dismissal brought Ball to the crease and he made his intentions clear from the start, striking the ball firmly and running efficiently. Charlatans, with wickets in hand must have harboured hopes of making 150+, but were pegged back by a fine spell of slow bowling from Chand and Spud. Chand removed Rickets, which impacted on Charlatans abilty to rotate the strike, with Ball being starved of the strike by some sensible fielding. Chand then removed the dangerous Pindoriya, as Jabs took a well judged catch at long-on. After conceding 7 from his first over, Spud slipped into the groove as he conceded only six more runs in his eight over spell, taking three wickets in his final over.
Charlatans innings closed at 129-8 from 40 overs, with Ball not out 43 at the close. From the way the pitch behaved we were in no doubt of the task ahead if we were to achieve victory. Tea was a fine effort, with the Vegetable Pakoras a particular success.
The less said about our reply the better. Nobody came to terms with an excellent spell of bowling from Pindoriya, who produced match winning figures of 6-23 from his eight overs. At the other end, Thomas was the perfect foil, matching Mike in terms of miserliness and only slightly exceeding him in pace.
Slapdash was first to go, unusually beaten playing defensively and he was followed by the rest of the top order, as Crusaders collapsed with some aplomb to 27-7. With the game effectively over, the tail wagged to restore a modicum of respectability, but we ended up skittled for 73 inside 30 overs, losing by 56 runs.
