Sonning Innings
for ( Overs)
Match Report
A really hot day at Blue Coat saw the Sonning 3rd emerge with yet another win of the season which confirmed our promotion and also put us in touching distance for the title. Sonning lost the toss and Newbury 4rds decided to bat first. The wicket looked like a batting paradise from the outset, allowing the batsmen to play their shots with confidence and offering the bowlers very little.
Naqash Tahir took the new ball and immediately started to probe the corridor of uncertainty, and in tandem with Ahasan Hameed set the tone with a very tidy opening spell. Ahsan and Naqash were both unlucky on numerous occasions and could’ve easily got couple of wickets on another day. Both were economical with their spells and after 10 overs the opposition had only reached 13 runs without the loss of any wicket.
Captain Waqas brought himself on with Aamir Tahir from the other end and they both kept the pressure on by bowling tightly but without making any inroads. After 20 overs the Newbury had reached 51 without losing any wickets. Phil Wilding was given the ball and he struggled to find his usual line and length. Arjun Mehta, playing his match of the season for 3rds, took the ball and took the first wicket on his very first ball. Naqash was brought on to bowl his offies from other end and both kept the scores down and bowled tidily. Ajrun was particularly unlucky with a tough chance going down in the slips. After 36 overs the score was 110 and the opposition were going nowhere.
With the late on slot on the card the captain bought himself and Aamir back on. Captain taking his first wicket caught at mid-on with Bhuvan taking an excellent catch and he soon followed up with another one when the batsmen played one in the air to the covers where Naqash took a brilliant catch. Aamir also joined the party from other end getting the settled batsmen with a crushing yorker on his toes and followed up with another full delivery clean bowling the batsmen. There was also a run out when Waqas threw from the third man and Nick smartly flicking the ball on to the wickets. Waqas and Aamir took one more wicket each with Nick taking a good catch behind the stumps. Opposition were reduced from 119/1 to 148/8. 10th wicket pair added few more runs and ended the innings on 159/8 after 47 overs.
After the tea, Naqash and Liam Mayers opened the inngs. Naqash played couple of lovely strokes but fell to a false shot to the square leg. Khalil ur Rehman playing his first match after few weeks absence came at no 3. Liam looked assured and played couple of lovely back foot strokes. He played one outside off was caught at slip when he look well set to score big. Bhuvan fresh from his 123* last week started where he left off his last inning. Taking on the bowlers from the first ball and hitting couple of lusty blows in very first over he faced and made his intentions clear i.e to finish the match as soon as possible. Bhuvan soon reached his 50 in no time and Sonning had halved the target inside 15 overs. Opposition missed a trick by dropping him when he was in his 50s.
With Bhuvan finding boundaries at regular intervals it only needed sensible batting from the other end and he was ably supported by the Khalil. Their partnership soon crossed 100 and the victory was in sight. Bhuvan was getting close to his 100 but the target was getting close too. Khalil was caught at mid-on trying to hit one out of the ground and the 4th wicket partnership had crossed 150 at that time. Khalil coming into form just at the right time and looking to end the season on a high. Nick came in at no 5 and looked in good touch – hitting couple of powerful blows. Bhuvan soon reached his well-deserved 100. Sonning chased down the target with 3 wicket down in the 24th over.
Overall it was again a very good batting performance and bowlers did very well on a batting wicket. Our bowling, batting and fielding were top class. An excellent debut game for Arjun who bowled really well. Fielding was very good considering being in the heat for so long. Well done to Bhuvan for the man of match performance one again.
Well done everybody!!!
