Scorecard

Brentwood v Chingford Cricket Club Sat 1st on Sat 21 May 2005 at 1330
Match was Drawn

Match report Invited to bat by Brentwood James Hill and Ben MacGregor began brightly until Dickie Whitehall began to find a line and length which began to pose problems on a damp pitch. The scoring rate slowed and wickets started to tumble so that after 20 overs Chingford were struggling on 68 for 4. It needed the experience of Shaun McMurray and Sam Kirnon to steady ship which they did in a partnership of 61 whence the former was bowled attempting an injudicious sweep against Belchamber for a solid 36. Kirnon continued the fightback in useful partnerships with Nick Shawyer and Matt O Sullivan before departing for an excellent 61. OSullivan however was now in his stride and completed a superb 44 off just 39 balls to take the visitors to a declared total of 231 for9. Brentwoods reply started badly as an excellent catch by Len Daniel off the bowling of Odedra put pay to John Walford for a duck. This brought to the wicket Indian one day test player Kanitkar who was soon putting the Chingford attack to the sword in a partnership with Ben Debenham(53) of 162 at which point Brentwood looked the likely victors. Debenhams departure proved crucial as the new batsmen were not able to rotate the strike and responded to the pressure by losing their wickets. Kanitkar however sailed serenely on finally departing in the final over for a stunning 155 as Brentwood had to settle for the draw at 216 for 7,whilst Niraj Odedra took the bowling honours taking 5 for 89.

Match Report from Brentwood Website

Brentwood 1st XI - 216-7
Chingford 1st XI - 231-9 declared
Match Drawn

Report by Richard Whitehall

A superb innings of 155 from Indian international Hrishikesh Kanitkar went unrewarded as Brentwood had to settle for a draw against fellow promotion hopefuls Chingford on Saturday.

For the fourth successive week Richard Whitehall won the toss and elected to field. In doing so Whitehall was hopeful that the forecast showers would miss the Old County Ground. He was to be disappointed.

It was clear from the first few overs that the wicket would not be an easy one to bat on, but the outfield remained fast and a high score was possible. Whitehall opened the bowling in partnership with Damian Brandy and both extracted prodigious movement from the wicket but were unlucky not to take wickets. It was Whitehall who finally made the breakthrough when an edge behind was caught by wicket-keeper Benjamin Cocklin. But after 12 overs Chingford had lost only 1 wicket and had scored 43 runs due to the bowlers mixing occasional loose balls with what seemed to be unplayable ones. The introduction of Joe Fryd prove effective as he clean bowled Jones and this sparked Whitehall into action as he first had Niraj Odedra caught by Kerry Branson, before Chingford Captain Hill edged to Brandy at 2nd slip.

This left Chingford struggling on 63-4. However the Chingford middle-order reacted to this setback in an aggressive manner and boundaries began to flow. Left-arm spinner Ian Belchamber bore the brunt of the attack, although he did claim the wicket of Runciman. The forecast shower did arrive and play was suspended for 20 minutes. The archaic rules of the Essex League meant that this time was effectively taken off Brentwood's innings with Chingford still able to bat 52 overs. This lost time was to cost Brentwood dear. Chingford's lower order then rallied to their cause with Jon Walford and Richard Whitehall conceding 55 runs in the last 8 overs to allow Chingford to declare on 231-9. Walford finished with figures of 3-70 and Whitehall 4-72.

Brentwood had only 65 minutes and 20 overs in which to chase the total and therefore knew a run-rate of 6 an over was likely to be required. Chingford opened the bowling with Indian off-spinner Niraj Odedra who very quickly took the wicket of Walford caught at mid-off without scoring. This brought Kanitkar to the crease aiming to follow on from the century he scored last week. It was soon clear that he was maintaining his sparkling form. He took the attack to the Chingford bowlers and in particular Odedra. Kanitkar was being ably supported by Ben Debenham and a partnership began to build. As the final 20 overs were called by the umpires Brentwood stood on 88-1, needing 144 more runs to win. Kanitkar continued to dominate the bowling, playing a more aggressive innings than last week and he soon passed 50 and moved quickly towards his second successive 100. Debenham also played many excellent shots as he too reached 50. With 10 overs to go 79 runs were still needed for victory. Debenham was dismissed for 57, but Kanitkar continued to score boundaries at will. However the Brentwood middle order found it difficult to rotate the strike to Kanitkar and then lost their wickets attempting to hit boundaries. The consequence was that wickets fell without runs being scored and despite Kanitkar moving beyond 150 with only two overs left Brentwood still needed 31 to win. Whitehall skied a catch to Odedra at long-off first ball and despite further lusty blows from Kanitkar, when the Indian was dismissed for 155 in the last over, Brentwood were still 15 runs short and had to settle for the draw.

To some extent Brentwood can consider themselves unlucky. They scored at 5.4 runs per over, compared to Chingford's run-rate of only 4.4 and despite taking 2 more wickets than the visitors gained 3 less points from the game. However they must look to improve upon their own weak areas in accuracy of bowling and middle-order batting as they face a tough game away to newly promoted Ardleigh Green on Saturday.

Chingford Cricket Club Sat 1st Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
231		        
James Hill Caught  28
Ben MacGregor Caught  14
Paul Shawyer Caught  3
Niraj Odedra Caught  6 2
Shaun McMurray Bowled  36
Sam Kirnon Caught  61 1
Nick Shawyer Caught  7
Matt O'Sullivan Caught  44
Ryan Harris Caught  7
Angelo Bass Not Out  17
Len Daniels   2

Brentwood Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Brentwood Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 7 wickets
0
216 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Chingford Cricket Club Sat 1st Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Niraj Odedra18.0389517.804.94
Nick Shawyer7.003900.005.57
Len Daniels4.002200.005.50
Angelo Bass10.0146223.004.60
Ben MacGregor1.001700.0017.00