Round 2 review - 18 / 19 May
Matchday 2 review – we go again
Acton won just the solitary game in a damp squib of a weekend for the club. Winless across all four league fixtures on Saturday, the Acorns did however manage to restore some pride with a consolation win on Sunday.
Sahil Kher’s first team faced a huge test early in the season as they came up against title favourites Hampstead at home (fresh off a 302-run win at Kenton). It felt like a bowl first day, and a crucial coin toss fell the way of the visitors who made the obvious decision under overcast skies and on a pitch that offered loads early on. The Hampstead seamers then ruthlessly dismantled Acton’s top order by reducing the Acorns to 20 for 5 inside the powerplay. 3 genuine nick-offs and a nip-backer that detonated the skipper’s front pad were followed by a catastrophic run out. The Patels then built a partnership as Dishen made a tidy 43 on his first eleven debut for the club alongside Tushar’s 30. 180/200…and we might have just got a game on. But they both fell shortly after the drinks interval to nip that plan in the bud. Alex Brennan then rolled back the years with some late order pinch-hitting alongside 17-year-old Noah Harvey to get Acton to 142 at the end of the innings.
A pair of early strikes from Sohaib Arif briefly gave Acton some hope of staging a remarkable comeback, and when Brennan trapped Hampstead’s overseas Burrage in front to leave Hampstead 66-3, Acton’s WinViz odds probably ticked over into double figures. However, as the sun came out and deck became more conducive for batting, Hampstead moved up a gear. A 27 ball fifty from opposition skipper Mubasher Hassan made light work of things, but an unbeaten 45 from opener Joe Kendall knitted it all together.
‘General’ Alex Manning travelled to Hampstead where his second eleven fielded first and put on a respectable bowling display with youngster Frankie Zahran’s 3 wickets spearheading the attack. Two each for Jordan Eggar, Nazim Munna and Ansh Vaswani looked set to keep the opposition to below 200 but for a lone hand of 84 from Ritvik Mewari pushing Hampstead up to 221.
For the second time on Saturday, a Hampstead bowling attack tore through an Acton top order. Aside from opener Matthew Reeve’s fifty, the rest of the top five all got ducks to create a scorecard resembling an Audi logo. A lower order 38 from Vaswani served as mere consolation with Acton being bowled out for 146 inside 30 overs.
The poor run of luck continued for the Acorns as they ended up on the wrong side of a final ball thriller against Brondesbury. Dan Waddell’s third team were put in to bat and started strongly as Jonothan Franke and debutant Aryan Patel combined for a 70 run opening stand. Cameos from Rakib Hossain and Anupam Uraiti got Acton to a par total of 190 at the end of the innings.
Siddharth Turaga’s excellent four wicket haul reduced the home side to 98 for 8 in the chase as Acton looked just two balls away from sealing a win. However, an unbeaten 94 from opposing number three Angad Ajgoankar clawed Brondesbury towards the target. Seamers Saad Shah and Tim Matthews were both carrying injuries and could no longer bowl with skipper Waddell being forced to roll the arm over himself. A series of three dropped catches followed as the total number of missed chances reached eight. Brondesbury were then left needing nine runs from the final over and two from the last ball, eventually managing to sneak over the line with just one wicket remaining.
Peter Ruis led his fourth team out to field first away to Wycombe House’s third eleven. Ikbal Hossain and Zak Yardley took four wickets each to bowl the opposition out for 195. However, Wycombe House’s second top scorer was extras with 32, something that would later prove crucial to the end result.
A slow and steady start to the chase was led by Hayden Glassey’s 83 and at 131-3 Acton looked comfortable in the chase albeit a bit behind the rate. However, a middle order collapse prevented Ruis’ side from accelerating towards the target as they eventually fell 17 runs short at the end of their 45 overs.
His wedding day on Saturday…but Sunday skipper Raj Chauhan still led his side out to field first against the visiting Wilkinson Way. The old and new starred for Acton in their bowling display as Raghavendra ‘Rags’ Ravikumar took 3 wickets with the new ball and Simon Julien took 2 more in his first game in over two years. Old is gold and all that.
Chasing 194 for victory, the home side were delightfully fuelled by a tea break consisting of burgers and fries from our sponsors Amigos before a lightning fast fifty from Kuntal Parikh and some lusty blows from skipper Chauhan (what a weekend for him) sealed an 8 wicket win for the Sunday eleven as they made it three wins in three.
Player of the Week
Hayden Glassey: 83 Runs vs Wycombe House 3s
Fantasy League Top Performers
Hayden Glassey: 118 Points
Siddharth Turaga: 109 Points
Ansh Vaswani: 108 Points
Matthew Reeve: 87 Points
Ikbal Hossain: 83 Points