Match Report
Sunday 12 July –v- Blue Bell Hill at Common Road
Crusaders romped to a ninety run victory in our longest standing fixture against Blue Bell Hill on Sunday. Chand compiled his third consecutive Crusaders fifty, sharing in a 5th wicket partnership of 115, which rescued another ailing batting performance, before a good all round bowling performance restricted Blue Bell Hill to 132 all out.
In the absence of Wajih, Mr Taylor won the toss and elected to bat, a decision biased by the absence of the Schultz-mobile and its cargo. Danglers was asked to adopt the responsible role at the top of the order and he was joined by the whirling blade of Jagdesh. Two overs later and both were back in the hutch; Moysey playing on and Jagdesh cleaned up by an inswinger. Thoughts turned to the debacle of Friday, but fortunately new acquisition Abrar and Nita steadied the ship, with the former playing some exquisite front foot drives. Both fell in quick succession, when BBH turned to spin. Nita attempted to clear the fielder at long-on and was well caught for 15 and Abrar (36) clipped straight to mid-wicket.
With Chand in the form of his Crusaders career, the skip decided to stodge up one end, while Channie entertained us at the other. For the second time in 3 days we posted a century stand, with Chand playing fluently and chancelessly to a fine 80. Mike meanwhile, was scratching around gamefully, never looking in any great trouble, but never looking like he was really 'in' either. It was however a vital contribution and formed a solid base for Gordy (13) and Upkar (21*) to play expansively during the final overs. After Chand's departure, Damon, who had been waiting expectantly in the pavilion, had his innings curtailed by a controversial run out - made especially more painful to bear by the square-leg fielder, who disagreed with the umpires decision. Our innings closed on 222-9, with Gordy's 'quick-step' down the wicket ending in an inevitable stumping, the last action of the session.
Blue Bell Hill began positively, with opener Parnell showing the full face of the bat. For once it was Mr Taylor who was stemming the runs, while Darren was struggling with his line, getting worked away to the un-guarded leg-side too often. It was Danglers who made the breakthrough however, with one that kept a little low, bowling Parnell off his pads. He followed that up with a delivery full and straight that would have hit middle, but for the intervention of the batsman’s pads. The hat-trick ball was put into storage, as Mike had seen enough.
Despite all the BBH batsmen looking capable, they never really looked in touch with the scoring rate and were lured into playing big shots too early into their innings. Mike was able to rotate his bowlers, utilising the wide variety of spin options at his availability. Upkar was particularly impressive, turning the ball sharply off the slope, while Abrar snared his first wicket for the club, courtesy of a good running catch from Spud. Gord bowled a whole over of leg-breaks - some even landed on the pitch. It was left to the master finisher Jagdesh to bring the game to a close, adding two more wickets to his career total.
