Despite the somewhat chilly conditions, Saturday 14 May was an excellent day for Habs cricket with no fewer than fifteen teams in action, ten of whom were victorious. Much credit goes to all the players involved and many thanks also to all the parents who supported our teams.
In the top game of the day, the 1st XI maintained its stranglehold over St Albans in recent years, winning for the seventh time in the last eight encounters between the two sides. At the toss Habs captain Ian Harris called correctly and once again had no hesitation in opting to bat first, although his opening partner Alex Willis may have regretted this decision when he missed the third legitimate delivery of the morning, a swinging full toss! This was as good as it got for our hosts, however, as Harris and Charlie Mack made the most of some wayward bowling, adding 179 together for the 2nd wicket. Unfortunately both batsmen missed out on well-deserved centuries as first Mack was stumped for 94 and then Harris was caught on the boundary for 95, not so much the nervous as the somewhat impetuous nineties!
Hugo Murphy (25*) and Vaibhav Dubey (14*), in an entertaining partnership at the end of our innings, ensured that we posted a formidable total of 277 for 6 from our 50 overs. In reply, Charlie Scott, the youngest of the Scott brothers, and Josh de Caires, the son of former England captain Michael Atherton, made a solid start for St Albans, scoring 47 in 10 overs, although the latter, in particular, endured a torrid time against Naresh Rasakulasuriar who found a good rhythm and bowled a quick spell with the new ball. The introduction of the left-arm spin of Shaniel Lakhani did the trick, however, as he had de Caires lbw with the first ball of the eleventh over. In an excellent spell, Lakhani captured a further four wickets to finish with figures of 5 for 22 from his ten overs. At the other end there were wickets for Aman Chatterjee, George Lawrence and Rasakulasuriar, who returned to bowl another impressive spell. Wicket-keeper Willis also made amends with two good catches and a smart stumping. Finally Harris (2 for 0) claimed the last two wickets as St Albans were dismissed for 146 in what was undoubtedly our best performance of the season to date.
In other games, the 2nd and 3rd XIs continued their successful runs, both winning for the sixth time this season. The U14As also maintained their 100% record, thanks to another fine innings by Sarthak Panvelkar (70*) and three wickets for Arun Herai. The U14Cs managed to defend a total of just 90 (extras top-scoring with 43), restricting St Albans to 88 for 9 to win by 2 runs while the U14B game ended in a tie with the scores level on 169. All four of our junior sides were also victorious and by imperious margins. The U13As recovered from their defeat by Dr Challoner’s in the Bunbury Cup and produced a fine all-round performance to win by 127 runs, while the U12As won by 9 wickets after dismissing St Albans for 54. There were half centuries for Aarav Nicum and Eshaan Ghei for the U13Bs in a 98 run win, while Rahul Renganath and Tom Fielden (from P5!!) also passed fifty for the U12Bs, who won by 168 runs. Unfortunately all three of our U15 sides lost, the Bs disappointingly so when, despite a five wicket haul (including a hat-trick) for Farzeen Faizeen, they failed to chase down a target of just 70. The U15As were missing key batsman Aayush Pindoria through injury and will need to perform much better on Thursday when they face Royal Hospital School from Ipswich in the ESCA One-Day Cup. Finally, mention should be made of the U13C and U12C teams who played ‘A’ teams away at St Edmund’s College, Ware, wining one and losing one of the two games.
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