London Sports V South Wales Dragons

London Sports V South Wales Dragons BBS Primary Club KO Cup Quarter Final

Saturday 10th June 2006

by Charles Ronayne

London Sports and South Wales Dragons met in the cup quarter final on June 10th 2006 in Seven Kings Park to decide who would go through to play Warwickshire or Birmingham in the semi finals.

The weather was extremely hot as Dragons took to the field to bat first with London hoping to continue the fine run of bowling form that had restricted Northern Galloways in the last round.

London got off to a flying start, with their first nine overs being bowled by Fiaz and Shazad Iqbal, who managed to keep the run rate down and take a wicket each. Also within those nine overs, Andy Whipp managed a sensational direct hit, and dragons were wobbling with none of their top three batsmen able to get in. The fourth wickets partnership was one of the biggest for the Dragons, with Damion Corrigan and Howard Greenhill both hitting the ball sweetly, but it could have been much different had Damion been caught low early on from the bowling of Shazad.

Having been given that lifeline he went on to plunder the London bowlers, in an innings, which included four sixes and seven fours, on a pitch with almost full size boundaries. His departure, however, well caught at mid-wicket by Chetan Davdra, sparked a mini-collapse, with the next three batsmen making 0 within two Charles Ronayne overs, leaving Dragons still insecure around the 150 mark.

During this spell, Carl Phillips was also given a lifeline, with a one bounce catch going down close in and he made London pay, as the bowlers wilted in the sun and without the reliable Haq Ismail who had been bowled out. Initially with the help of the steady Greenhill, and then the reliable Dave Wood, he made hay in the sun by punishing some charitable bowling, and also unleashing some ferocious shots to the boundary. In all he scored eight boundaries in his 47, just failing to reach 50 when skying Mohammed Zaheer and being caught well behind. His partnership with Wood, however, had put on more than fifty runs, which would prove valuable to the Dragons and taken them well past the 200 mark, to 233. Of the bowlers, both Ishmail and Zaheer took two good wickets, and the B1’s could not be faulted during their opening spell.

In reply, London got off to the worst possible start, with Ali Sadfter being run out by his runner off the first ball of the innings. It set the tone of an innings in which some of the London batting and running was all too erratic. With pinch hitter Andy Whipp departing soon after and the score on 21, London had a mountain to climb, but they were able to stabilize with a large partnership of their own, 59 between Shazad and Chet, with Chet his usual explosive self and Shazad hitting the only two B1 8’s of the match. One both of these had fallen in quick succession, however, there never looked like being enough lower order resistance or firepower to worry the Dragons, who were bowling in very good areas. After the departure of Chet, run out having been sent back, London only managed to put on 40 runs, the tail really struggling to get any bat on ball.

Corrigan wrapped up the London tail expertly to finish with three wickets, as did Will Norman, Andy Law taking the only other wicket. Run Outs joined the three wicket club, claiming the last wicket to leave London all out for 127 from 19 overs, well short of their target and the run rate. However, with better fielding and running, London could certainly give the BCEW teams problems in the league. Dragons march on to face Warwickshire in the next round, in a massive clash to find out who goes through to face Metro or Worcester in the final.

	London V Dragons Scorecard
	London Sports V South Wales Dragons BBS Primary Club KO Cup Quarter Final Saturday 10th June 2006 by Charles Ronayne London Sports and South Wales Dragons met in the cup quarter final on June 10th 2006 in Seven Kings Park to decide who would go through to play Warwickshire or Birmingham in the semi finals. The weather was extremely hot as Dragons took to the field to bat first with London hoping to continue the fine run of bowling form that had restricted Northern Galloways in the last round. London got off to a flying start, with their first nine overs being bowled by Fiaz and Shazad Iqbal, who managed to keep the run rate down and take a wicket each. Also within those nine overs, Andy Whipp managed a sensational direct hit, and dragons were wobbling with none of their top three batsmen able to get in. The fourth wickets partnership was one of the biggest for the Dragons, with Damion Corrigan and Howard Greenhill both hitting the ball sweetly, but it could have been much different had Damion been caught low early on from the bowling of Shazad. Having been given that lifeline he went on to plunder the London bowlers, in an innings, which included four sixes and seven fours, on a pitch with almost full size boundaries. His departure, however, well caught at mid-wicket by Chetan Davdra, sparked a mini-collapse, with the next three batsmen making 0 within two Charles Ronayne overs, leaving Dragons still insecure around the 150 mark. During this spell, Carl Phillips was also given a lifeline, with a one bounce catch going down close in and he made London pay, as the bowlers wilted in the sun and without the reliable Haq Ismail who had been bowled out. Initially with the help of the steady Greenhill, and then the reliable Dave Wood, he made hay in the sun by punishing some charitable bowling, and also unleashing some ferocious shots to the boundary. In all he scored eight boundaries in his 47, just failing to reach 50 when skying Mohammed Zaheer and being caught well behind. His partnership with Wood, however, had put on more than fifty runs, which would prove valuable to the Dragons and taken them well past the 200 mark, to 233. Of the bowlers, both Ishmail and Zaheer took two good wickets, and the B1’s could not be faulted during their opening spell. In reply, London got off to the worst possible start, with Ali Sadfter being run out by his runner off the first ball of the innings. It set the tone of an innings in which some of the London batting and running was all too erratic. With pinch hitter Andy Whipp departing soon after and the score on 21, London had a mountain to climb, but they were able to stabilize with a large partnership of their own, 59 between Shazad and Chet, with Chet his usual explosive self and Shazad hitting the only two B1 8’s of the match. One both of these had fallen in quick succession, however, there never looked like being enough lower order resistance or firepower to worry the Dragons, who were bowling in very good areas. After the departure of Chet, run out having been sent back, London only managed to put on 40 runs, the tail really struggling to get any bat on ball. Corrigan wrapped up the London tail expertly to finish with three wickets, as did Will Norman, Andy Law taking the only other wicket. Run Outs joined the three wicket club, claiming the last wicket to leave London all out for 127 from 19 overs, well short of their target and the run rate. However, with better fielding and running, London could certainly give the BCEW teams problems in the league. Dragons march on to face Warwickshire in the next round, in a massive clash to find out who goes through to face Metro or Worcester in the final.