Brentham 1st XI v. Richmond 1st XI (Away) Sat 8 May 2010

The Ones went to Richmond, to start the season, full of optimism and anticipation. Sadly the weather didn’t reflect our sunny outlook (and as their Aussie said, “This isn’t right!”). With the clouds increasingly darkening overhead, Vish lost the toss and we were inserted (what a surprise!)
Our openers, Tom and Paul, started steadily with Paul finding the boundary on a number of occasions despite some tight lines from the Richmond openers. However, as they got used to the bowling and the nature of the pitch, both starting finding the middle of the bat with greater regularity. It was therefore a shame to see Paul fall for a well constructed 43. This brought PK, the prodigal son, so the crease and he opened his account with a powerfully struck 6 over mid-wicket off their 14 year old spinner. Unfortunately, this would prove to be his downfall as the bowler was quickly taken out of the attack to be replaced by their overseas. He then produced two of the dirtiest balls in cricketing history in an over (one a long hop and the other a full bunger) which PK, then AB proceeded to hit straight to midwicket. Tom followed soon after for a patient and mature 50 (until he started teeing off!) and Luke perished in the same over. What had looked like a promising start continued to get deteriorate as Jazz and Vish were dismissed not long after – 126-7.
This brought Leroy and Glen to the crease and through the combination of some big hitting and well judged running they managed to accumulate 30 runs. They both went in quick succession (Glen to an extremely dubious non  no-ball) and Naz was unable to continue his good form with the bat from last year and we were all out for 160.
We knew that if we bowled and fielded well, used the pitch and the overhead conditions then we were in with a shout (how many times have you heard that!) However, we started really well reducing them to 40-4, with Naz and Glen picking up two apiece, including a magnificent caught and bowled from Glen. Richmond regrouped after that and it took the introduction of Yogi to break it open once again. Again, Richmond produced a solid partnership despite one of their batters trying to sweep PK’s third ball every over as he couldn’t even pick his own nose. However, the reintroduction of pace in the form of Leroy and Glen proved to be the changing point in the match. Glen picked up another, caught behind, and in the next over Yogi took a spectacular jumping one-hander. The next two overs brought another two wickets and Richmond were 120-9, but we were in a ruthless mood and Glen deservedly finished their innings off, cleaning up their Number 10 to finish with 5 wickets.
So, a seriously good fielding and bowling performance coupled with our best opening stand for over two years won us this game. We now need the rest of the batters to produce the goods and help us to set (and chase) some bigger scores.  

Brentham 1st XI v. Harrow Town 1st XI (Home) Sat 15 May 2010

Following their win in the opening match against a Richmond team much fancied to gain promotion, Brentham’s 1st XI went into their home match with Harrow Town full of confidence. On an overcast morning Brentham won a crucial toss and put the visitors into bat on a damp, low-bouncing wicket.
This proved a wise decision as within 5 overs Harrow Town were reduced to 5-2 and soon after 21-3 with great opening spells from the returning Matt Lowen and the ever-reliable Naz Ali. However, it was not all easy going with the ball, and as the shine wore off, the visitors were able to forge a fight back with two of their batsmen making half centuries. As Brentham heads looked to be dropping, Parag Karnapurkar chipped in with three wickets and Anant Brambhatt another, to dislodge much of the middle order within a matter of overs. Harrow Town never recovered from the loss of these wickets and despite some late lower order hitting, a lively spell from Leroy Shepherd in which he picked up three wickets finished off the tail, leaving Brentham with a target of 193.
Majed Ali and Paul Sylvester got the Brentham innings off to a steady start with the score at 40 when Maj was trapped LBW. This was followed by a stand of 50 between Paul and Parag until the opener was unfortunately run out by a splendid straight drive from his partner which was debatably deflected onto the stumps, leaving him stranded. However, Parag did not let this affect him and let loose on the Harrow Town bowling, sending it to all parts before finally being caught in the deep for a superb 75, with just 18 needed. It was left to Anant and Tom Brandreth to steer Brentham to a comfortable 7 wicket win with 18 overs to spare, which leaves them joint top of the table.