Match Report
Crusaders made wholesale changes from the team that was victorious at Charlatans, for our first visit to Chingford . The Ground was tucked behind houses,circled by picket fencing,bathed in hazy sunshine, cut on a gentle slope and blessed with Master Brew and Spitfire from two handpumps - what more could you want.
In came Ash Mahmood for a Crusaders debut, Aftab, Azam, Spud and a first appearance of the season for the hard-working Mr Taylor. For those that are un-aware, later in the Summer Mike is heading off to Dubai, to escape the appalling terms and conditions of the Teaching profession in this country - we of course wish him well.
Pommie deputised at the toss and was a little perplexed to report that we were fielding, despite not really seeing the result of the toss. It seems that he was either the victim of some sleight of hand from the Umpire or that the opposition skipper worked out that he was a little simple. Chingford's preference was for a time game, with declaration between innings. Little did we know the ramifications of that decision.
With Jabs allegedly stuck at the Blackwall Tunnel approach, we started the game with only 9 players. It soon became apparent that the absentees would not be missed - too much. Pommie and Mike exerted a stranglehold on the scoring, which was never really relaxed, with Chingford lacking any great urgency to make use of the gaps in the field. It took the introduction of Aftab to make the breakthrough, with Jagdesh taking a comfortable catch at Point. The other opener was soon returned, bowled by a 'shooter' from Azam, much to the enjoyment of Dave behind the stumps, who sent him on his way with some cheery comments.
Despite scoring slowly, Chingford were proving resolute in guarding their wickets and the game soon became a war of attrition, with our hosts hell-bent on survival, thus limiting our time to respond. Jabs and Ash finally arrived, but the two extra fielders merely exacerbated Chingford's scoring drought.
Wajih rotated his bowlers, but we entered a third hour of batting with no sign of a declaration. There was a high level of twitchiness amongst the Crusaders fielders, not least Damon, whose stomach had never been deprived of food for such a time. Eventually, with the clock ticking towards 5.20 Chingford's skipper called time, with a late tail-wagging knock from Harborne carrying the total to 170-9. Crusaders had sent down an eye-watering 56 overs, with the pick of her bowlers Aftab who returned figures of 3-34.
Having been fairly lethargic during game time, Damon showed remarkable fleet of foot to get to the tea table. A shame he is not so nimble when it matters. Tea was top quality, though this may have been my perception due to the protracted wait.
With play re-starting at 5.50 and 20 overs at 6.30, we would need to score at about 5.5 runs per over to overhaul our target.
Where Chingford found runs hard to come by, Wajih made it look easy. From the moment the first delivery was pushed to the cover boundary for four the result never looked in doubt. Jagdesh was a little less fluent, struggling to find his timing, but the score raced to 29 in the first 4 overs, before a spooned chance was gratefully accepted at Mid-on. Wajih, who had looked very comfortable, followed soon after, feathering a catch to the keeper for 23.
Debutant Ash joined Jabs at the crease and the score continued to rattle along. Only Jabs and Ash can say whether their late arrival was caused by a queue for traffic or the 'All you can eat Buffet', but either way the hour's absence from fielding duties was an obvious benefit. After piercing the field several times, Ash was next to go, bowled by the perseverant Harborne for 23.
Chingford battled valiantly to stay in the game, but had little answer to the stroke-play of Sarwar and the aggressive hitting of Azam Elahi. In just under 10 of the remaining 14 overs they accumulated the remaining 79 runs required for victory, with Jabir remaining unbeaten on 63 and Azam 36 not out.
