St Lukes v Whyteleafe – Saturday 16th May 2009
The Match:
St Lukes’ first game at the newly revamped ‘Goals - Tolworth’ ground proved a strange affair with St Lukes ultimately recording their second win of the season by 34 runs against a strong Whyteleafe side.
The game was played throughout in a Force 10 gale which necessitated the removal of the bails for the first time in memory.
Whyteleafe won the toss and elected to bowl. Our initial assessment of the track was that it looked underprepared and this proved accurate with considerable uneven bounce and extravagant lateral movement.
Graham Curtis and Martin Horrocks made early inroads into the St Lukes’ top order reducing St Lukes to 16-3 before Imran and Jono steadied the ship with a partnership of 42 runs including three sixes. Wickets then fell steadily until a final wicket partnership of 20 between Awadh (who top scored with 32) and Jason (0*) took St Lukes to 105 All Out off 29.1 overs. Graham Curtis (4-40) and Matt Vines (4-15) were the pick of the Whyteleafe bowlers.
| R | B | 4s | 6s | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhys Rossiter | b Martin Horrocks | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Michael Robartson | b Graham Curtis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| James Somers * | b Graham Curtis | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Imran Muhammad | ct Peter Goodwin | b Graham Curtis | 28 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Jono Watkins | LBW | b Graham Curtis | 20 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Prithvi Raj + | ct Graham Curtis | b Matt Vines | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Awadh Amar | ct Peter Goodwin | b Richard Cooper | 32 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Mohammad Sultan | b Matt Vines | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Riaz Wahid | b Matt Vines | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tim Blatt | ct Annal Mohabir | b Matt Vines | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Custance | Not Out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras | ( 3b 2lb ) | 5 | ||||
| Total | ( all out , 29.1 overs) | 105 | ||||
| O | M | R | W | Nb | Wd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Horrocks | 7 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Graham Curtis | 10 | 3 | 40 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Vines | 8 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Neil Goodwin | 3 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Richard Cooper | 1.1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Whyteleafe’s reply started with a first over dismissal of Annal Mohabir (St Lukes’s usual tormentor) to a Jason Custance off-cutter before David Holloway and Asa Curtis added 44 for the second wicket. At 44-1 Whyteleafe were well placed before three quick wickets from Imran changed the course of the game with Raj clinging on to two catches behind the stumps.
Batting conditions were now very difficult and a combination of the strong wind and the poor pitch as well as tight bowling from Imran (10-5-28-3), Tim B (10-4-14-3) and Sultan (4-2-2-1) and catches from Rhys, debutant Michael Robartson (2) and Jason saw Whyteleafe reduced to 68-8. Never one to miss the opportunity of some cheap wickets skipper James Somers brought himself on and cleaned up with 2 wickets in 5 balls. Whyeleafe’s final score was 71 off 30.5 overs.
| R | B | 4s | 6s | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annal Mohabir | b Jason Custance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| David Holloway * + | ct Prithvi Raj | b Imran Muhammad | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Asa Curtis | ct Prithvi Raj | b Imran Muhammad | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Owen Rees | b Imran Muhammad | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Neil Goodwin | ct Rhys Rossiter | b Tim Blatt | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Vines | b Mohammad Sultan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Peter Goodwin | ct Michael Robartson | b Tim Blatt | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Graham Curtis | ct Jason Custance | b Tim Blatt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Richard Cooper | ct Michael Robartson | b James Somers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Martin Horrocks | b James Somers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dan Kerr | Not Out | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras | ( 4b 1lb 1w ) | 6 | ||||
| Total | ( all out , 30.5 overs) | 71 | ||||
| O | M | R | W | Nb | Wd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Custance | 5 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Imran Muhammad | 10 | 5 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Blatt | 10 | 4 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Riaz Wahid | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mohammad Sultan | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| James Somers | 0.5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
So, overall rather an odd game played throughout in a very good spirit. It is clear that whilst the facilities at the ground (including working showers, teas and changing rooms) have improved beyond recognition the pitch still falls below the standard needed for this level of cricket.
Man of the Match
Imran – 28 runs on a day when the ball dominated the bat together with 3 key top order dismissals.