Match Report
Crusaders continued their fine form of late, returning from Hartfield with the spoils. Hero for Crusaders was debutant Paramjeet Singh, who followed up an excellent bowling return of 4-33 with a dashing 35. In true Crusaders style the margin of victory was made unnecessarily narrow by some injudicious batting, which necessitated Loepreet and Spud to scuttle for pads and gloves. The winning runs were mowed to cow corner by the irrepressible Sam Singh.
Amazingly at 13:45 Wajih was at the ground and able to carry out and call correctly at the ritual coin toss. Alas a car containing four of our players was obviously following a route previously taken by the skipper; somewhere on the M25 was the only message conveyed and no real idea of estimated time of arrival.
With Wajih doubting the likely penetration of his bowling attack and it's ability to take ten wickets, the decision was made to field. Our seven man team was supplemented by Anmol and Herman and two players kindly loaned by Hartfield - the fact that we didn't have to hide Damon and Johnny G made it feel like we had thirteen players. The unavailability of pitch expert Johnny G to spot any demons in the surface meant the diagnosis fell to Spud. The sun had baked a firm top layer, but close inspection revealed a soft underbelly, something that would make batting an uncomfortable experience for the majority of the game.
Riyad proved the point with a fine opening spell that made survival the main aim of the Hartfield openers. In Ball and Bristowe, Hartfield had two obdurate examples of how to ride out a storm. Supplemented by a good spell from Sam from the top end - to the surprise of Wajih - Hartfield limped along, presumably hoping that our second string bowlers would offer more opportunities to score.
There was to be no let up.Eventually the additional team members appeared. Nazir replaced Riyad and apart from a couple of deliveries that were helped to the leg-side boundary he bowled a good line throughout. A revelation at the other end was Loepreet, who delivered his best spell in a Crusaders shirt, returning 1-12 from 7 beautifully flighted overs. All of this was the perfect 'fluffing' for Paramjeet and Spud. With Hartfield under pressure to score quick runs before the tea declaration, accurate spells from both ends were rewarded with four wickets a-piece for Singh and Whale. The Hartfield demise was rapid and when Spud removed Brown for 10, the Hartfield innings ended at 127 all out. Several of the Hartfield side kindly asked after the health of 'the fat bloke who injured himself last year' and it was generally agreed that the injury was made worse by the 40-50 kilos of excess baggage that he was carrying.
Crusaders response was typically flamboyant, with both Wajih and Jagdesh trying to remove the leather casing from the ball. Runs came freely, but wickets tumbled at an uncomfortable ratio and at 50-4 with a tail of Brontosaurus proportions to come, the game was in the balance. Fortunately Paramjeet and a resolute Simran Singh (also on debut) steadied proceedings and added 45 for the 5th wicket. There was still time for Nita to have a woeful hack and Upkar to add to his reputation for impulsive LBW decisions; sending a disconsolate Riyad back to the pavilion for a duck, before Sam delivered the finish.
Hartfield as ever were excellent hosts and we look forward to future to visits to a beautiful part of the world.
