UXBRIDGE CRICKET CLUB SAT 1st XI v Harrow Town on Sat 10 May 2008 at 1.00
Match was Drawn (1 point)
Full scorecard on play-cricket.com
Andre Jason’s flying fifty was one of a number of positives for Uxbridge, but a solitary point was their material reward for a day of toil throughout their first league fixture.
The opener’s half-century came off just 42 deliveries as Uxbridge began on course to chase down their target of 242 for victory, but wickets fell regularly during the 20 overs following his dismissal, stifling the run rate and hope of any additional points.
The day had begun brightly with captain Andy Stephens winning the toss and electing to bowl on a wicket tinged with grass. The nature of the pitch assisted openers Gareth Stoneman and Steven Wright (1-57) as their economic lines restricted the visitors to little more than two runs per over in the initial exchanges.
Signs of frustration had already been expressed by Harrow’s batsmen as they reverted to wild swipes at good deliveries. But it was eleven overs into the contest before Uxbridge had their first scalp, the left-handed V. Jadunath’s off-stump being disturbed as Stoneman (1-26) snuck through his defences.
Harrow returned to their ploy of fighting fire with fire as N. Samarakoon connected some lusty blows to the short Park Road boundary, skipper Stephens wisely taking the pace off the ball by bringing Graham Lines into the fray.
The ploy worked with almost immediate effect as his flighted left-arm off-spin was too tempting for T. Theophile (9), an attempted drive back down the ground was toe-ended to Paminder Mangat at mid-on, Lines ending the day with figures of two for 62 from 14 overs..
The remainder of the innings became a tale of missed opportunities as stumpings were not taken, edges avoided the slips and wafty drives seemed to find gaps between the fielders. S. Senevirantha was one of the main beneficiaries as he fell two short of his half-century, but it was Abid Javed’s 86 from number six that became the backbone to the Harrow innings.
In reply Jason and Preetinder Singh (6) gave the home side an optimistic start as their opening stand of 42 came at double the rate of Harrow’s, but little support for Jason’s efforts materialised from the middle-order. Chris Alder added impetus from number six as his 51 not out initially raised hope of Uxbridge earning four points from a winning draw, but as the game developed his role evolved to one preventing defeat as he and Stoneman (8*) saw out the final eleven overs.
Harrow Town Batting
241 for 6
UXBRIDGE CRICKET CLUB SAT 1st XI Bowling
UXBRIDGE CRICKET CLUB SAT 1st XI Batting
165 for 7
Harrow Town Bowling
-
Umpire :
Panel
-
Scorer :
Jon Bitmead