London Sports V South Wales Dragons

London Sports V South Wales Dragons, BCEW League

Sunday 20th May 2007

Report by Charles Ronayne

London Sports opened their BCEW campaign by hosting South Wales Dragons in Seven Kings Park, with the Dragons coming off the back of a league defeat to Metro the day before, and London having lost their last game to Sussex, so both teams with a point to prove.

As predicted five days before by Blind Cricket’s own Michael Fish, Neil Prior, the weather was hot and sunny, likely to favour batsmen with the wicket not likely to have as much bounce as it had the week before in the cup.

Dragons lost the toss and were asked to bat, with London hoping for early breakthroughs and especially the wicket of Toby Warren, who had compiled consecutive centuries against them. They were to be disappointed, however, as the opening partnership of Warren and Karl Phillips lasted six overs before Phillips was caught behind from the economical Shazad Iqbal. London had, however, limited the Dragons scoring with some sharp fielding, and Warren and Keryn Seal were unable to push the run rate up too far, though they built a decent partnership until Seal was bowled in the fourteenth over by Mohammed Zaheer, having struck two lusty blows but been otherwise watchful.

The entrance of Dave Wood, however, sparked some life into the Dragons scoring, as they started to manoeuvre the London fielders around with well-placed twos and boundaries. He threatened to put on a big partnership with Warren, before the latter was superbly run-out from long-off by Shakir Iqbal to give London renewed hope of bowling the Dragons out.

Wood and Heindrich Swanepoel, however, were in no mood to help the London cause, as they started to hit freely all around the wicket. The London bowling was tight enough to restrict them to five boundaries between them, with a lot of hard-run singles and twos, but between them they managed to lift Dragons to 190+, before Heindrich was caught off the bowling of Haq Ismail. Dragons declared soon after, leaving only time for the team to reach 200 and Wood to claim a well-earned 50.

London were set 201 to win from 32 overs with the Dragons’ declaration giving them plenty of time for their bowlers to put pressure on the London batsmen, but also giving the London batsmen a realistic target to chase.

The London innings started badly, with both openers falling within the first three overs, to leave them on 6-2, Heindrich Swanepoel and Howard Greenhill taking a wicket apiece. With 30 overs to survive Dragons may have sensed victory, but Shakir Iqbal and Charles Ronayne put together a partnership of 75 in 14 overs to frustrate the Dragons, and keep alive the slim London hopes of victory.

Ronayne played on in the 17th over to give Greenhill his second wicket and the Dragons renewed hope, especially when Akil Haider strode to the crease only to survive three close LBW shouts, all from the bowling of Greenhill. He eventually got into his stride, as he and Shakir played some fine strokes to keep the score ticking over, whilst never looking in danger of getting out or reaching the Dragons’ total. in part down to good fielding but largely down to the fantastic bowling of Swanepoel, who conceded only 14 runs from his 9 overs.

London did look to accelerate, but with the departures of Shakir, Haider and Andy Whipp by the 31st over, a draw was always on the cards, and despite some scares in the last over, they managed a draw with three wickets to spare.

Dragons take away the extra bonus points and the performances of Wood, Swanepoel, and Greenhill, while London look to the consistency of Shakir and their sharp fielding to cause other teams problems this year. Both can also look at their bowling and say they would have hoped to bowl the opposition out, though the spirit shown by both bowlers and batsmen was fantastic, and both sides were worthy of the draw.

	London V Dragons Scorecard
	London Sports V South Wales Dragons, BCEW League Sunday 20th May 2007 Report by Charles Ronayne London Sports opened their BCEW campaign by hosting South Wales Dragons in Seven Kings Park, with the Dragons coming off the back of a league defeat to Metro the day before, and London having lost their last game to Sussex, so both teams with a point to prove. As predicted five days before by Blind Cricket’s own Michael Fish, Neil Prior, the weather was hot and sunny, likely to favour batsmen with the wicket not likely to have as much bounce as it had the week before in the cup. Dragons lost the toss and were asked to bat, with London hoping for early breakthroughs and especially the wicket of Toby Warren, who had compiled consecutive centuries against them. They were to be disappointed, however, as the opening partnership of Warren and Karl Phillips lasted six overs before Phillips was caught behind from the economical Shazad Iqbal. London had, however, limited the Dragons scoring with some sharp fielding, and Warren and Keryn Seal were unable to push the run rate up too far, though they built a decent partnership until Seal was bowled in the fourteenth over by Mohammed Zaheer, having struck two lusty blows but been otherwise watchful. The entrance of Dave Wood, however, sparked some life into the Dragons scoring, as they started to manoeuvre the London fielders around with well-placed twos and boundaries. He threatened to put on a big partnership with Warren, before the latter was superbly run-out from long-off by Shakir Iqbal to give London renewed hope of bowling the Dragons out. Wood and Heindrich Swanepoel, however, were in no mood to help the London cause, as they started to hit freely all around the wicket. The London bowling was tight enough to restrict them to five boundaries between them, with a lot of hard-run singles and twos, but between them they managed to lift Dragons to 190+, before Heindrich was caught off the bowling of Haq Ismail. Dragons declared soon after, leaving only time for the team to reach 200 and Wood to claim a well-earned 50. London were set 201 to win from 32 overs with the Dragons’ declaration giving them plenty of time for their bowlers to put pressure on the London batsmen, but also giving the London batsmen a realistic target to chase. The London innings started badly, with both openers falling within the first three overs, to leave them on 6-2, Heindrich Swanepoel and Howard Greenhill taking a wicket apiece. With 30 overs to survive Dragons may have sensed victory, but Shakir Iqbal and Charles Ronayne put together a partnership of 75 in 14 overs to frustrate the Dragons, and keep alive the slim London hopes of victory. Ronayne played on in the 17th over to give Greenhill his second wicket and the Dragons renewed hope, especially when Akil Haider strode to the crease only to survive three close LBW shouts, all from the bowling of Greenhill. He eventually got into his stride, as he and Shakir played some fine strokes to keep the score ticking over, whilst never looking in danger of getting out or reaching the Dragons’ total. in part down to good fielding but largely down to the fantastic bowling of Swanepoel, who conceded only 14 runs from his 9 overs. London did look to accelerate, but with the departures of Shakir, Haider and Andy Whipp by the 31st over, a draw was always on the cards, and despite some scares in the last over, they managed a draw with three wickets to spare. Dragons take away the extra bonus points and the performances of Wood, Swanepoel, and Greenhill, while London look to the consistency of Shakir and their sharp fielding to cause other teams problems this year. Both can also look at their bowling and say they would have hoped to bowl the opposition out, though the spirit shown by both bowlers and batsmen was fantastic, and both sides were worthy of the draw.