Optimists Cricket Club

Gent 2nd XI were to be the Optimists 1st XI third fixture in the BCF Twenty20 League. As they arrived 15 minutes after the scheduled start time, Optimists won the toss through default and elected to bat.

Optimists openers Tim Andrews and skipper Joost Mees looked comfortable against the Gent attack until an unfortunate run-out meant that Mees was out for only 1 after only 2 overs.
Richard Neale joined Andrews and set about starting the innings again. Andrews played very much an anchor role and was solid in defence and looked to push the singles whilst Neale played freely and looked to score the runs. Neale hit several good shots but was fortunate on a few occasions and the scoreboard was suddently ticking along at 8 an over.
After 10 overs Neale and Andrews decided to open up and when Andrews was out to fine stumping for 39, the Optimists were on 124 off 14 overs. Neale quickly followed and was also stumped having scored 69 off 42 balls.
Taral Desai and Iqbal Murad continued the onslaught with several lusty blows from Desai along with measured and controlled hitting from Murad. At the close of the innings, Desai was on 49 not out and Murad on 22 not out. The Optimists had amassed a staggering 209 on a large ground with a sligtly damp outfield.

With the Chairman and ex-Chairmans looking on, the Optimists took to the field with quiet determination. Pandian Ramalingam opened the bowling and bowled with good pace and consistency and deserved his 2-8. However, the star of the show was Iqbal Murad who, with his quick leg-spinners had Gent in all sorts of trouble. His first two deliveries took wickets, one bowled and the other plum LBW and he went on to take a very impressive 4-4 off 3 overs. Young James Baker, on his debut for the Optimists 1st XI impressed with a very controlled spell of leg-spin and ended with figures of 2-9.

In the end, the bowling performance from the Optimists was just too good for a young Gent side and they were eventually dismissed for a woeful 26.

A brilliant Optimists performance in all aspects of the game and next week they face the deciding match again Crescent at home.

Please come along to support the Optimists 1st XI against Crescent next week. The match is at home and starts at 14:00. If the first team win this then they are through to the BCF Twenty20 Finals day at Royal Brussels and stand a very good chance of winning the first BCF Twenty20 Tournament!

OCC 209-3 (R.Neale 69,T.Desai 49*)
Gent 26 all out (I.Murad 4-4, P.Ramalingam 2-8, J.Barker2-9)

Optimists 1st XI win by 183 runs.

Photo: Victorious 1st XI Optimists side.