RESULT - Stevenage lost by 3 wickets
A hot and sunny day at Stevenage Cricket Ground deserved a better quality game than it got with both Stevenage and Radlett batting like they'd never played the game before.
Radlett's chase should have been routine, but their upper order had obviously been paying a little too much attention to the Stevenage batsmen as they preceded to make an absolute mess of reaching
the target that had been set them. Berg had a chance put down in the slips early on and Syed Ali Kazmi bowled with considerable menace, troubling all of the batsmen and dismissing the top three batters
with the total only on 25. At this stage it was still only looking like a consolation for the home side, but Ali (8.4/3/17/3) picked up three wickets in quick succession and Kazmi (14/5/32/4) one more
to leave Radlett facing up to the distinct possibility of a surprise defeat at 41 for 7. Unfortunately for Stevenage a couple of half chances were put down and a several close calls went the way of Dill and Chippeck
who between them put together the type of partnership that had been sorely missing from the day up until then to take Radlett to victory.
Man of the Match - Zubair Afzal
Most Fined - Syed Ali Kazmi (for the worst shot he has ever played)
detailed scorecards available on Stevenage Play Cricket Site
RESULT - MATCH ABANDONED RAIN
The bad weather follows this fixture around, with both of last year's matches affected by rain and the first of this season being no different.
This time not a single ball was bowled and the only highlights of the day were a good lunch and an exhibition of silky football skills from the Stevenage players on a rain slick outfield.
Berg utilised a cynical hard edged approach combined with a good touch and some showboating trickery characteristic of a want to be Italian and Syed Ali Kazmi demonstrated a ruthless streak in
front of goal. While on the opposition Gary Brown and John Mould took a more direct approach combining the long ball with some bull in a china shop runs through the centre.
The other event of note was an emergency call up for the semi-retired Ian Baker, who received an SOS following Zubair Afzal's car accident on the way to the ground that left him stranded in an unroadworthy vehicle.
Man of the Match - Ian Baker
Most Fined - Not Awarded
detailed scorecards available on Stevenage Play Cricket Site
RESULT - MATCH DRAWN
Late afternoon rain put paid to Stevenage’s run chase as they closed in on the total of 191 posted by Hertford in Stevenage’s first home match, sponsored by Greene King, of the league season.
With a convincing win from their opening league fixture Stevenage approached the match high in confidence and this manifested itself in the team’s positive attitude on the field and a desire to move the game forward after two rain breaks.
Having lost the toss Stevenage were put in the field, but quickly had Hertford in trouble. Gareth Berg had the Hertford opener dropped by Syed Ali-Kazmi the stand-in first slip; in the absence of the regular first slip Nas Ahmed, who was taking in the many tennament blocks,
I mean, cultural delights of the beautiful Scottish city of Glasgow, home of the Old Firm, Taggart, Christopher Brookmyre, Adam Smith the father of modern economics and most importantly Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish; without a run on the board.
At the other end Tanweer Sikandar was getting prodigious swing consistently beating the bat of former Stevenage player Krish Canagadasbey. However, it was some exceptional outfielding by Gary Brown that made the initial breakthrough, completing a diving stop
at the third man boundary and launching a fast throw over the stumps leaving Canagadasbey short of his ground in attempting a third. The other opener was removed by Ali-Kazmi just 2 runs later leaving Hertford wobbling on 19 for 2 from 15 overs.
A further two dropped catches, before the score had reached 40, proved in hindsight to be the difference between the competitive 191 for 9 that was posted and a score that Stevenage would have fancied chasing down well before the rain set in.
Cavener was the main beneficiary and made the most of his life striking the ball beautifully in a well made 77, although Cordingly also contributed an essential 26 in an 87 run third wicket partnership having been dropped when on nought.
Apart from a hard hit 37 by Carlson, Hertford’s lower order were cleaned up by Ali-Kazmi who completed 23 overs and took 6 wickets for 69 runs.
The second rain break of the day came at the end of Hertford’s innings, which was the worst possible time for Stevenage, because it meant that the number of overs available to them to chase the total was reduced with no amendment to the target. This left
Stevenage with 13 fewer overs to bat than Hertford received.
Man of the Match - Syed Ali Kazmi
Most Fined - Zubair Afzal, a man who keeps his own time
detailed scorecards available on Stevenage Play Cricket Site
RESULT - STEVENAGE WON BY 153 RUNS
Stevenage's 1st XI campaign got off to a flying start at North Mymms with a
resounding 153 run victory.
Carr in company with Herts U19 batsman Gary Brown (35), led from the front putting on 89 in good time for the first
wicket before Brown nicked good ball to the keeper. Carr was dismissed
shortly afterwards for 54, but with the score on 105 for 2 the stage was set for Stevenage's powerful middle order to pile on the runs and they didn't
disappoint. Syed Ali Kazmi took charge initially, racing to 76 with shots to most parts of the boundary, during a 117 run partnership with Naseer Ahmed,
who settled himself in at the other end. With Kazmi eventually removed Ahmed took up the challenge and with useful late support from Graeme Duff (11n.o)
he took the Stevenage total on to 304, planting the last ball of the innings over the pavilion for six to end on 95 not out.
Although Stevenage would have had to bowl and field poorly to lose the game from such a strong position, it was always likely to be a tough ask of the
bowlers to complete a victory on wicket that had apparently offered so little to North Mymm's attack. This looked to be the case because despite a
controlled opening spell of quick bowling from Gareth Berg and useful seam support from Tanweer Sikandar, Mymms' openers posted a 66 run partnership.
The first break-through was made by Kazmi, who completed a man of the match performance with figures of 17/8/31/4 in dismissing 4 of Mymms top 5
batsmen. However, despite the flurry of 6 wickets between the scores of 108 and 139, Stevenage where left sweating on the last two wickets with neither
Kazmi nor Azhar Ali (22/8/56/4) able to make the necessary breakthrough.
With time running short the new ball was taken and Berg was sent in for the kill, which he achieved through a combination of raw pace and accuracy.
Firstly he induced an edge from the no.9 through to wicket keeper Carr and then sent the middle stump of the no.11 cart-wheeling out of the ground to
seal Stevenage's victory.
Man of the Match - Syed Ali Kazmi
Most Fined - Naseer Ahmed
detailed scorecards available on Stevenage Play Cricket Site
Stevenage batted first but after the early loss of Gary Brown to one of many good deliveries from South African Shane Burger subsided to 5 for 3, with the two subsequent wickets gifted to Burger.
A brief revival was mounted first by David Carr (10) and Gareth Berg (26) and then Berg and Nas Ahmed (11), but with the score on 53 for 4 Burger stepped up his demolition of the Stevenage side,
dismissing all three batsmen and Ashley Bayes to claim the first 7 wickets of the innings to leave the score on 57 for 8. A 9th wicket partnership of 25 between Zubi Afzal (14) and Az Ali (13no) restored
a modicum of pride and prevented a lowest ever Home Counties League total being recorded by Stevenage, but with a couple of wickets falling to the support bowlers Burger ended the innings on 85 by
clean bowling John Mould and returned figures of 17.2/5/43/8.
Sawbridgeworth 1st XI vs STEVENAGE 1st XI
STEVENAGE 1st XI vs Hertford 1st XI
For the second time in succession David Carr and Brown put on a half century opening partnership and did so at the required run rate of just above 4 runs an over. Neither batsman allowed the
bowlers to settle being particularly quick to take full toll of any loose deliveries. With the score on 84 Carr was the first wicket to fall, trapped LBW by Canagadasbey for 46 from 56 balls, (that's a strike rate of 82%, vastly superior to Kevin Pietersen's
Test Match Strike Rate of 69% and comparable to Arivinda De Silva's 1-day strike rate of 81%). He was followed back to the pavilion soon afterwards by Ali-Kazmi who was superbly caught in the deep by a diving Carlson.
Brown (41) kept the scoreboard ticking over with Sikandar and took the total to 103 prior to becoming Canagadasbey’s second wicket, minutes before the rain finally forced the game to be abandoned as a draw.
In the end Stevenage claimed 8 points as opposed to the 6 they would have claimed if the game was cancelled so from a points point of view it was worth the effort.
North Mymms 1st XI vs STEVENAGE 1st XI
New captain David Carr got things right early on by winning the toss and
electing to bat on a good batting wicket, albeit in bowler friendly weather
conditions. Another contributing factor to the decision was the absence of 3 of the team, who had reported in with an ETA of 12:00.
Carr, however, now a veteran of 1st XI cricket at Stevenage was not thrown by this minor inconvience having become accustomed to such circumstance in the
mid 1990s, although back then it was West Indians in a Transit van, rather than Pakistani's in a Peugeot.
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