TWICKENHAM CLUB XI vs. OLD ISLEWORTHIANS
Twickenham – 204 for 6 after 40 overs (H.Kriess
– 84; A.Donelan – 31; U.Khan – 27)
Old Isleworthians – 43 for 6 after 11.1
(R. Saunders – 3 for 29; Riaz – 3 for 11)
On a cold windy day, a youthful looking
Ts Club XI (with the exception of 11th Man Gil Sanchez)
took on a very senior looking Old Isleworthians on the Green.
Youth prevailed over experience on the day but a result was
hampered by the rain, much to everyone’s delight (except the
skipper’s) as the T20 final between the Proteas B Team and
Australia reached an interesting climax. Skipper Kriess was
amongst the runs with a well-prodded 84, while opening bowling
pair Saunders and Riaz taking 3 a piece.
Old Isleworthians captain Peries won
the toss and had no hesitation to insert the home side. Khan and
Donelan opened the innings for the Ts and both looked comfortable
at the off. Scoring freely and with good running between the
wickets the score moved along nicely. Khan finding the boundary
more often than his batting partner, who seemed to have perfected
the cover drive straight to the opposing fielder! Only in the 16th
over with the score on 57 did the Ts lose their first wicket, with
Khan (27) mistiming his shot and hoofing the ball right into the
hands of the opposition skipper at mid-off. In stepped Kriess, who
while looking on at his opening pairing found it hard to get his
batting order up to scratch. One truly knows one has a problem of
getting a batting order right when the club’s overseas player and
opening bat for our Saturday 1st Team is batting at
No.8!!
Kriess immediately got off the mark and
tried to go after bowlers, as he felt the run rate was a little
slow. The good running between the wickets continued and the
partnership for the 2nd wicket grew, adding a further
43 runs to the total. Eventually Donelan played and missed one
keeping low and was bowled with his tally on 31. Colt Sam Papworth
stepped up to the crease and he looked to push the singles in
order to hand the strike to Kriess. Papworth did well in his first
Club XI game, trying to get the run rate up as boundaries were
difficult to come by. Opposition skipper Peries setting a very
defensive field. He was eventually bowled when playing across the
line. Left-hander Clive Dancey joined the skipper in the middle
and he too managed to hand the strike to Kriess, who by now had
reached the half century. Dancey struggled to really find the
middle of the bat but the pair made 48 runs in a 4th
wicket partnership before Kriess (84) eventually succumbed to a
full delivery, scooping the ball well into the sky and being
caught by the fielder in the cover region. Dancey got run out with
his score on 10 and eventually the innings came to a close at the
end of the allotted 40 overs on 204 for 6.
Tea was again a delightful affair and
enjoyed all the more so with the start of the T20 final in the
Caribbean. The rain, adding to the delight of the English support
in the crowd, delaying the reply of the second innings as
England took control of the game with the Aussies reeling at 7 for
3 in the 3rd over of play.
Once the start of play had commenced
again, the Ts looked to opening bowling pair Saunders and Riaz to
get them off to a good start. And indeed they did. Saunders,
bowling from the Church Road End was the first to strike, getting
opener Kambos to lob his cut straight into the hands of Dancey at
point. Riaz obviously felt what Saunders can do, I can do better
and claimed not one but two wickets in his 2nd over.
The first wicket, yorking No.3 Cooper and the second, taking a
good catch of his own bowling to send No.4 Bomber-Blake packing.
At the other end left-handed opener
Usman was in no mood to just hang around and did open his shoulder
early on to hit Saunders over mid-off for a couple of fours. At
one stage, while Ts overseas player Tom Meredith went to collect
the ball across the Church Road End, opening partner Riaz,
fielding at fine leg at the Green Spice End, used the park bench
to get his sit-up counts up to scratch. I know the Ts Cricket
Development Officer Martyn Fryer’s fitness standards are extremely
high and run on a strict regime, but I wouldn’t have put monet on
this being the way these fitness levels are gained. Definitely a
first for a Club XI game and certainly a very unorthodox way of
using a “Friends of Twickenham Green” sponsored bench!! Well done
Riaz!!
Saunders, plotting the downfall of the
opener, tactically moved Meredith from mid-off to long-off and
this proved to pay off! With they very first ball of his fourth
over, Usman fell pray to a perfect half volley and a well-taken
catch by Meredith on the long-off boundary. Runs were not a plenty
for Old Isleworthians and the Ts were now looking well on top with
5 wickets. Skipper Kriess encouraging his troops to wrap up
the game quickly in order get back to watching South Africa win
the T20 final. Saunders claimed his third wicket day in his 6th
over, again in tandem with Meredith. Osborn caught at mid-off.
With the scoreboard now showing 43 for 7 of 11.1 overs, the rain
really started coming down hard. Kriess offered his opposition
number the option of going in and he keenly accepted. After a few
minutes it was decided to call it a day, with both Saunders and
Riaz taking 3 wickets a piece.
Both teams then enjoyed the opportunity
granted by the weather, to watch England take their first ever T20
trophy with a convincing 7 wicket victory, thanks largely to their
South African contingent contributing the core of their runs. It
was however delightful to at least see an Englishman scoring the
winning runs! The opposition stayed on well after the game
had finished and Ts can hopefully look forward to welcoming Old
Iselworthians back to the Pavilion next season.
The next Club XI fixture is away to
Hanwell on the 6th of June.
Holger Kriess