Wanstead 1st XI v Chelmsford 1st XI
Saturday 11th May
Essex League Premier Division
The 1st XI got their season off to a disappointing start with a 4 wicket defeat at Chelmsford. After being put into bat on a bowler-friendly green wicket, Wanstead struggled to post a score against a strong Chelmsford bowling unit. Hassan (36) and Tom (23) were top scorers in a total of 126 all out.
Chelmsford began steadily, and it took a great piece of fielding by Hassan to break the opening partnership via a run out. Joe took 2 wickets in 2 deliveries and 4 in total, but Chelmsford were able to reach the target with 4 wickets remaining.
Wanstead 1st XI v North Middlesex 1st XI
Sunday 12th May
National Club Cup
The Wanstead 1st XI put on a strong batting performance in their National Club Cup game against North Middlesex on Sunday. Tom set things up with a quick fire 41, then Kishen and Haaris shared a partnership of 134, scoring 86 and 75 respectively. Hassan also continued his good form from Saturday with 23 in a total of 286 for 7, which included two spectacular catches by North Mids players.
North Middlesex started well until Joe came on to bowl and took the first three wickets. Yuvraj also took two wickets and got a sharp run out. The opposition fought hard to try to get close to our challenging total, with Luke Hollman top scoring on 63. They were eventually dismissed for 226, so giving us a 60 run win.
Wanstead 2nd XI v Ilford 2nd XI
Saturday 11th May
Wanstead’s Super 2s lost the toss and were sent into field. Marley and Jack set the tone, restricting Ilford to 28 for 3 as Hamza replaced Marley. After a tight spell with little reward from Hamza, with back-up from league debutant George Davies, Ilford were 109 for 6. As their tail wagged a little, Marley and Abhay came on and polished the tail off for a total of 168 all out - Marley picking up 4 for 49 & Faheem taking 3 catches and 1 stumping.
After tea, Zoraiz and Aryan got us off to a flier with us sitting on 41 off 6 overs. Ilford struck back with two quick wickets and suddenly we were 53 for 2. In came Rod & Faheem, and their partnership ended up being a winning one with a score of 109 together taking our total to 162 for 3. Faheem ended on 52 and Rod on 56 not out. A thoroughly good performance from all involved and a great start to the Super 2s season!
Wanstead 3rd XI vs Harlow
Saturday 11th May
After losing the toss and breaking our opening stand early on, the top and middle order grafted intelligently, building a platform to accelerate during the middle to latter stages of the innings. Leading the way was our valiant vice captain, Antony Smith (pictured below), who showcased a masterclass of drives, pulls and clean hitting to bring up his maiden 3rd XI hundred. Coupled with captivating cameos from Pavan Patel (35), Zafar Saiyed (27), Ahmadullah Jan (20) and Stephen Ramdial (33), the Herons steered their way to a very competitive 261 for 8.
An expensive start with the ball sent a few nerves jangling but up stepped our wiley campaigner Paul Richardson, who revelled in the pressure and began to wreak havoc in the Harlow top and middle order taking 3 for 27 in 9 overs. On debut, Abdur Barry (9-1-1-32) showed his promise as he bowled with clever control and helped to magnify the pressure from the opposite end. Credit must also be given to our remaining bowlers who stuck to the task and were supported in the field by some incredible catches to help us bowl out Harlow for 185 to win by an emphatic 77 runs.
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Wanstead 5th XI v Oakfield
Saturday 11th May
The 5th XI had a great win by 139 runs with some terrific performances by the juniors both with bat and ball, ably supported by three adult players. Oakfield won the toss and asked Wanstead to bat first. On a tricky early season Fairlop pitch, Rajesh (78 runs) and Pranav (51 runs) batted watchfully but also put the bad balls away in their opening stand of 83. This was followed by a 111 run partnership between Rajesh and Nikhil (53). Wanstead put on a total of 212 in 40 overs.
Jaden (3 wickets) and Rajesh (1 wicket) in their opening spell crushed any hope Oakfield had in challenging our score. All other bowlers then chipped in with regular wickets and notably Oakfield had 8 of their batters clean bowled, evidencing the quality of our bowling.
Wanstead 6th XI v Newham
Saturday 11th May
The Wanstead 6th XI made it to the ground at Newham on time, which was a great start following some poor instructions from the skipper. Father, son (and Mum watching) for the Bhatterjee boys.
Winning the toss and choosing to bat, some fierce bowling from Newham’s rockstar bowler Khan did the early damage, although Dan had a few lives and Callum did enjoy himself before mis-timing one to mid-off. Mo, Mital and Tariq did a great job of steadying the ship, with the latter top scoring with a dogged 34 playing some terrific shots on the way. We found ourselves all out for 122.
Still feeling positive in the May sunshine, the new ball went to the man Tariq whose pace troubled the openers and stung the keepers’ hands (who kept in a rather unorthodox but effective fashion). From the other end, Callum got a ripper and took their opener. Alas, that’s almost as good as if got before Riyyan took his first senior wicket for Wanstead, getting one to turn late and take their other opener shortly before the winning runs were scored (cue plane celebration and match ball)!