Scorecard

Optimists Cricket Club 1st XI v Gent CC 1st XI on Sun 27 Aug 2017 at 12:00
Optimists Cricket Club Won by 148 runs

Match report On a hot, humid day the Optimists Cricket Club 1st XI played hosts to Gent Cricket Club at their home ground in Walferdange. Gent were one of only two teams to have beaten the Optimists this season, in a high scoring game away in Ghent. Captain Richard Neale was keen to avenge this defeat and keep the pressure up on the league leaders and upon winning the toss chose to bat first in good conditions. The regular pairing of Ben Embleton and James Barker got the innings off to a solid start before Ben departed with the score on 22. The skipper then entered the fray and looked immediately at ease. As James continued to accumulate Richard punished anything loose, with one over containing three consecutive boundaries. A partnership of 82 took the score past 100 in under 20 overs, with a big total looking likely. Richard was caught soon after for a run a ball 45, bringing in the in-form Vikram Vijh. The runs continued to flow and James soon reached his fifty as the score continued to climb steadily. Vikram was playing his natural game, hitting all loose balls to the boundary and ensuring that the strike continued to tick over. James was eventually run out, this latest partnership having contributed 61 runs at a run a ball. Timothy Barker was the next man in and with a well set platform was ready to push the run rate along. Vikram continued to score freely, once again registering a fifty, while Timothy started to dispatch the opposition bowlers over the fence. After a partnership of 52 Vikram was eventually bowled for 62, of which 34 of these runs came from boundaries. Timothy continued the attack, dispatching one opposition bowler for 17 in an over and another for two consecutive sixes. With Tony Whiteman at the crease the runs came easily and the scored edged past 250. Timothy was finally bowled for a 35 ball 64, an innings that contained 4 sixes and two fours. The momentum was not lost however and with some good running the final few batsmen managed to bring the score up to a very competitive 289.

Despite the very good total everyone was aware of the capabilities of some of the Gent batting line-up, though confidence was high that on the large Pierre Werner outfield the Gent batsmen would not manage to score as freely as they had in the previous fixture. Atif Kamal and Yatin Bhamare opened the bowling and bowled fantastically in the heat, beating the bat on countless occasions. The first wicket fell courtesy of a super catch by Chris Evans, running back and taking the ball over his shoulder. Despite the bowlers continuing with little luck, the opposition struggled to score and by the time the second wicket fell with the score on 40 after 11 overs the Optimists knew they were well on top. Further wickets fell as the score ticked over, James Barker taking the two catches to end the batsmen’s fairly short stays. Gent’s (and the league’s) top run scorer was still at the crease however and he was scoring freely. Nevertheless wickets were falling, the pick of which was Chris Evans bowling the opposition keeper with what must be a contender for ball of the season. Atif was brought back into the attack soon after and with his first ball removed the opposition’s top scorer, a well-deserved wicket for his toil. Shortly after Yatin took a good running catch on the straight boundary to give Chris his second wicket, signalling the end of any real resistance from the Gent batting line up. Atif was proving too good for the lower order and ensured victory by removing the final three batsmen, giving him a well-deserved four wickets in the innings. Yatin finished with two wickets, Chris with three and William Cope with one. Gent’s total of 141 meant victory for the Optimists by 148 runs and most importantly, the maximum 25 points that could have been taken from the game. It was an impressive performance overall and a complete team effort, with seven catches and goods spells by all bowlers. This win leaves the Optimists only 1 point behind the league leaders Brussels and with only two games left the Optimists will be hoping to defend their title for another year courtesy of a final match showdown with Brussels.

Optimists Cricket Club 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 15w 11lb 
for 7 wickets
28
289		        
James Barker Run out  52 96 80 3 65.00 2
Ben Embleton Caught  11 20 17 2 64.71
Richard Neale Caught  45 58 44 8 102.27 1
Vikram Vijh Bowled  65 72 69 7 1 94.20
Timothy Barker Bowled  61 53 36 2 4 169.44 1
Tony Whiteman Caught  15 26 15 2 100
William Cope Not Out  3 11 4 75.00 1
Atif Kamal Bowled  7 4 4 1 175.00
Yatin Bhamare Not Out  2 1 3 66.67 1
Chris Fry  
Christopher Evans   1

Gent CC 1st XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Gent CC 1st XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
13w 2b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
16
141 (31.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Optimists Cricket Club 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Atif Kamal8.003649.004.50
Yatin Bhamare7.0023211.503.29
William Cope2.2017117.007.29
Richard Neale5.402100.003.71
Christopher Evans8.0041313.675.13

  • Umpire :
    BCF Appointed
  • Scorer :
    Mick Swithinbank