London Sports V Sussex Sharks

London Sports V Sussex Sharks BBS Primary Club National KO Cup Preliminary Round

Saturday 12th May 2007

Report by Charles Ronayne

London Sports hosted Sussex Sharks on Saturday in the first cup game of the season, for the right to play Birmingham in the next round. The conditions were not ideal, with heavy showers forecast throughout the day, but the teams were able to start in the sunshine, Sussex having won the toss and elected to field.

Miles Northwood and Dan Field opened up, both getting early pace and bounce, especially two bounce to Shazad Iqbal, who was clean bowled by first-change Ian Morris with the score on just four. Charles Ronayne and Shakir Iqbal cautiously steadied the ship and looked to be frustrating the Sussex bowlers, putting on a partnership of 14 which, being the second highest of the innings, speaks volumes about the London batting performance.

Ronayne was plumb LBW to Geoff Smith with a ball that defied the pitch to stay low and Smith and Steve Troy took a wicket apiece, Troy’s complimented by a fantastic catch from Northwood, as Sussex tightened the screw to leave London on 28 for 4, but with Shakir still at the crease.

London needed a partnership to give them any chance of getting into the match and they got it through Shakir and Mohammed Zaheer, who stabilised the innings and put Sussex under some pressure, Shakir scoring the bulk of the runs but Zaheer chipping in and spending vital time at the crease to help London to 90 – 4 at the 15th over.

Players came off for drinks as the heavens finally opened and the restart was delayed as the rain continued to fall, to such an extent that the umpires decided that time equivalent to four overs had been lost, and set the teams a revised 28 overs to bat. With London’s scoring rate about average this stoppage left them needing to up the run rate, though they were able to call on the services of Chetan Davdra, who had arrived during the break.

Shakir and Zaheer resumed eventually though they were unable to find their previous momentum, with Mark Burchell picking up his first wicket, Zaheer edging behind, strangled down the leg side. Burchell then picked up the big wicket, Shakir finding Joe Harrison, who showed safe hands to take the catch to dismiss Shakir for 66, by far the best London score. Davdra had come in, but quickly run out of partners Burchell took another to dismiss Rob Mackenzie and leaving London down to their last wicket. Chet looked to score quickly, keep the strike and score mainly in boundaries, but came unstuck as Harrison took another good catch from the bowling of Dan Field to leave London on 137 all out.

The pick of the Sussex bowlers was Mark Burchell who took 3-28 from 5 overs including the important wicket of Shakir, though the rest were tidy, Geoff Smith took 2 – 34 and Dan Field looked dangerous.

Rain set in again with the players at lunch and the start of the second innings was delayed, though the Sussex target stayed the same: 138 from 28 overs.

Mackenzie and Ronayne took advantage of the rain during the interval as Sussex endured a torrid first six overs, with Mackenzie picking up the wicket of Dan Field early, one of four catches to Davdra behind the stumps with the high bounce luring the batsmen into a top edge. Northwood fell soon after, clean bowled by Mackenzie, finding fast bouncy B1 bowling to finish his opening spell with two wickets.

The Sussex innings settled down as both Joe Harrison and Geoff Smith found their feet and started to pick the gaps in the depleted London field. Although there were few boundaries on offer, the shot selection was excellent to pick up twos and the odd boundary to keep Sussex on course. The London bowlers weren’t helping themselves, conceding an abundance of wides and they had reached 79 for 2 before Smith was caught behind from the bowling of Zaheer for a creditable 24, giving Harrison the support he needed and using his experience to put away the poor bowling.

Alan Wetherly followed soon afterward and London may have sensed a victory, as Kevin Lyon and Burchell fell to leave the match finely balanced on 109 for 6 with the pitch playing up enough to favour the bowling side.

Harrison, however, was not the be denied. Having been part of a match-saving partnership in London last year and almost a match-winning partnership in Sussex, he took command of the batting making scoring look easy and guiding David Allen, who did well to survive the second spell from the returning Mackenzie, through to the end of the match, with a lofted four off Davdra. With that boundary he took his score up to 61, a fantastic achievement on a bowlers pitch.

So Sussex move on to Birmingham to meet the BBS title challengers in what should be an intriguing match, with the winner going on to meet South Wales Dragons in the semi finals.

	London V Sussex Scorecard
	London Sports V Sussex Sharks BBS Primary Club National KO Cup Preliminary Round Saturday 12th May 2007 Report by Charles Ronayne London Sports hosted Sussex Sharks on Saturday in the first cup game of the season, for the right to play Birmingham in the next round. The conditions were not ideal, with heavy showers forecast throughout the day, but the teams were able to start in the sunshine, Sussex having won the toss and elected to field. Miles Northwood and Dan Field opened up, both getting early pace and bounce, especially two bounce to Shazad Iqbal, who was clean bowled by first-change Ian Morris with the score on just four. Charles Ronayne and Shakir Iqbal cautiously steadied the ship and looked to be frustrating the Sussex bowlers, putting on a partnership of 14 which, being the second highest of the innings, speaks volumes about the London batting performance. Ronayne was plumb LBW to Geoff Smith with a ball that defied the pitch to stay low and Smith and Steve Troy took a wicket apiece, Troy’s complimented by a fantastic catch from Northwood, as Sussex tightened the screw to leave London on 28 for 4, but with Shakir still at the crease. London needed a partnership to give them any chance of getting into the match and they got it through Shakir and Mohammed Zaheer, who stabilised the innings and put Sussex under some pressure, Shakir scoring the bulk of the runs but Zaheer chipping in and spending vital time at the crease to help London to 90 – 4 at the 15th over. Players came off for drinks as the heavens finally opened and the restart was delayed as the rain continued to fall, to such an extent that the umpires decided that time equivalent to four overs had been lost, and set the teams a revised 28 overs to bat. With London’s scoring rate about average this stoppage left them needing to up the run rate, though they were able to call on the services of Chetan Davdra, who had arrived during the break. Shakir and Zaheer resumed eventually though they were unable to find their previous momentum, with Mark Burchell picking up his first wicket, Zaheer edging behind, strangled down the leg side. Burchell then picked up the big wicket, Shakir finding Joe Harrison, who showed safe hands to take the catch to dismiss Shakir for 66, by far the best London score. Davdra had come in, but quickly run out of partners Burchell took another to dismiss Rob Mackenzie and leaving London down to their last wicket. Chet looked to score quickly, keep the strike and score mainly in boundaries, but came unstuck as Harrison took another good catch from the bowling of Dan Field to leave London on 137 all out. The pick of the Sussex bowlers was Mark Burchell who took 3-28 from 5 overs including the important wicket of Shakir, though the rest were tidy, Geoff Smith took 2 – 34 and Dan Field looked dangerous. Rain set in again with the players at lunch and the start of the second innings was delayed, though the Sussex target stayed the same: 138 from 28 overs. Mackenzie and Ronayne took advantage of the rain during the interval as Sussex endured a torrid first six overs, with Mackenzie picking up the wicket of Dan Field early, one of four catches to Davdra behind the stumps with the high bounce luring the batsmen into a top edge. Northwood fell soon after, clean bowled by Mackenzie, finding fast bouncy B1 bowling to finish his opening spell with two wickets. The Sussex innings settled down as both Joe Harrison and Geoff Smith found their feet and started to pick the gaps in the depleted London field. Although there were few boundaries on offer, the shot selection was excellent to pick up twos and the odd boundary to keep Sussex on course. The London bowlers weren’t helping themselves, conceding an abundance of wides and they had reached 79 for 2 before Smith was caught behind from the bowling of Zaheer for a creditable 24, giving Harrison the support he needed and using his experience to put away the poor bowling. Alan Wetherly followed soon afterward and London may have sensed a victory, as Kevin Lyon and Burchell fell to leave the match finely balanced on 109 for 6 with the pitch playing up enough to favour the bowling side. Harrison, however, was not the be denied. Having been part of a match-saving partnership in London last year and almost a match-winning partnership in Sussex, he took command of the batting making scoring look easy and guiding David Allen, who did well to survive the second spell from the returning Mackenzie, through to the end of the match, with a lofted four off Davdra. With that boundary he took his score up to 61, a fantastic achievement on a bowlers pitch. So Sussex move on to Birmingham to meet the BBS title challengers in what should be an intriguing match, with the winner going on to meet South Wales Dragons in the semi finals.