St Albans II v London Colney Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI on Sat 05 May 2007 at 1.30pm
London Colney Cricket Club Lost by 7 wickets
Match report
London Colney vs St Albans II
Herts league Division 3, Saturday May 7th
London Colney 183 all out, 51 overs
St Albans II 186-3, 37 overs
St Albans won by 7 wickets
London Colney begin this season playing in division 3, the highest level they have ever reached, but were given a hard lesson in life at this level as they were soundly beaten by St Albans II in the opening match of the season. Winning the toss, skipper Matt Bristow opted to bat, but under cloudy skies, and with a degree of variable bounce, he and opening partner Phil McLaughlin struggled to make any impression against the saints attack of Chaudury and Arafat, taking 14 overs over an opening partnership of 30, during which both men survived chances. The grip that saints bowlers exerted on the game at the start was never seriously challenged, and although Matt Bristow grafted his way to an innings top score of 54, Colney wickets fell steadily throughout the innings. Crucially ,although 7 of the remaining batsmen reached double figures, Ady Fisher was the next highest scorer with just 19, and the failure of any other Colney batsman to go on and develop a significant score saw the run rate never get much above 3 an over, and Colney subsided to 183 all out in the 51st over. For St Albans, Openers Chaudury (4-68) and Arafat (3-53) did most of the damage, and Dorsett chipped in with 3-20 as the mid-order tried to raise the run rate.
The score was clearly on the low side, but any hopes that it might have been competitive were quickly dashed as Colney’s bowlers struggled to exploit the conditions, and never matched the level of dominance that the home side’s had, allowing Grigg (44)and Dorsett (38) to get off to a flyer, reaching 83 by the 11th over. Dorsett fell to Scott Hadley, and Grigg was run out as Matt Bristow and David Goff slowed the run rate down significantly, and at last started to beat the bat, but although Matt Bristow claimed a third wicket for Colney, a classy knock of 57 no from Arafat saw Saints home by 7 wickets with 12 overs to spare, leaving Matt Bristow with a lot to think about.
London Colney Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Batting
183 for 10
St Albans II Bowling
St Albans II Batting
184 for 3
London Colney Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Bowling
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Umpire :
Mr A Bristow
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Scorer :