SHL Division Two

Shenley Village 246-4d

Northwood 134

Shenley Village won by 112 runs

SHL Division Two

Shenley Village 246-4d

Northwood 134

Shenley Village won by 112 runs

SHENLEY Village began their weekend with a convincing 112-run away win at Northwood on Saturday.

Northwood won the toss and inserted Shenley to bat on a green wicket which it was felt would favour the seamers.

Shenley opener Morgan Stanley played himself in steadily, whilst at the other end Tharic Sameem was once again in a destructive mood, quickly notching up 48 from 34 balls, including eight fours and a six. Having been dropped twice, the big-hitting Sri Lankan’s luck finally ran out just short of his half-century as he was caught behind with the total on 63.

Shenley’s in-form captain Dion Ebrahim joined Stanley in the middle and was once again the backbone of the innings. The pair had put on 42 when Stanley’s innings came to an end - caught for 28 off first-change bowler Paul Richardson. With the score now on 105-2, Anooj Vadgama and Ebrahim were pushing the score along nicely and looking fairly untroubled. Both had taken advantage of a six-over spell from spinner Umar Khan and were looking well set when Vadgama, possibly going for a big shot too many, was caught at mid-off from the bowling of medium-pacer Tom Brockton.

Shenley continued to score at a good rate and by the final ball of the 37th over had reached 172 when Lloyd Willingham was stumped for 16 in an attempt to further accelerate the scoring rate. Ebrahim, pictured above, had reached his 50 by this stage and as the innings continued he began to bat more aggressively, although he had some luck on his side as he was dropped several times in the latter stages of the innings. With three overs remaining, Ebrahim hit a six, followed by a boundary, to reach 100 in style.

With a combination of delicate stroke play and aggressive hitting, this was Ebrahim’s sixth century of the season for his club. With his personal target accomplished, and with Shenley on a challenging 246-4, he promptly declared the innings to leave Northwood 50 overs in which to chase the target. The best of the bowlers was Paul Richardson, with 2-83.

The Northwood reply got off to a decent enough start, with Brockton and Richard Wise taking them to 65 without loss at the 14-over mark.

Dave Shelley was then introduced into the attack and made the breakthrough for Shenley, bowling Brockton for 37. Wise fell a few overs later, caught by Ebrahim for 35 as paceman Rob Laney returned for a second spell and little resistance was offered thereafter. Laney followed up the wicket of Wise with four destructive overs which removed the next four batsmen for only 14 more runs and eventually left him with figures of 5-45.

Ebrahim’s off spin then began to sweep up the lower order, as he took wickets in each of his first three overs. The tail wagged temporarily, with Khan, batting at 10, making a brave rearguard effort. He made 18 before he too was undone by Ebrahim, who had him caught by Rahul Gajjar. This was the end for Northwood, leaving them all out for 134. Ebrahim finished with 4-19.

The win kept Shenley in seventh spot in the Division Two table although with four of the teams ahead of them losing their matches, the gap to the top was closed to just 49 points. To have a significant impact on the promotion race Shenley will need to keep winning and their next opportunity to do so will be this Saturday when they host 10th placed Chipperfield Clarendon. Shenley then travelled to the home of Home Counties Premier League Division 2 East side North Mymms on Sunday for their quarter-final of the County Cup. North Mymms captain Neil Bamford won the toss and elected to bat first on the same pitch which they had scored over 300 on the previous day. Openers Jake Pankhurst and Andy Parker opted to play themselves in at the start of the innings and took only 32 from the first 10 overs bowled by Rob Laney and James Davenall. The first wicket fell when Dave Shelley was introduced in the 13th over and Pankhurst was caught behind by Matt Evans off his bowling. Two further wickets followed soon after to leave the hosts at 79-3. This brought Mark Saxby to the crease and he put on 65 with Bamford for the 5th wicket before being caught behind off Laney. Wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter and so North Mymms were never able to accelerate the scoring rate despite an assured 85 from Bamford. This left the game in the balance at tea with Shenley requiring 231 to win and sensing the possibility of an upset. Shelley starred to finish with figures of 6-40.

However, the Shenley innings got off to a poor start with opener Anooj Vadgama controversially given out lbw off the bowling of Hamid Riaz in the second over with the score on just 5. His opening partner Tharic Sameem was unable to continue his good form as he was dismissed for 10 in the fifth over and the visitors were in trouble by the time Lloyd Willingham was trapped lbw by Jigar Mehta for 5 at 37-3. Ebrahim looked comfortable at the crease before, after making 28, he too was given out to a debatable lbw shout from Riaz. The middle-order of Morgan Stanley, Matt Evans and Keith Muller were unable to make double-figures between them and Shenley were soon in an extremely difficult position at 64-8. The chance of a win had now gone but some respectability was added by 24 from Rob Laney and a 50 partnership for the final wicket between Davenall, who top-scored with 32, and Shelley, who made an unbeaten 17.

Riaz finished with figures of 5-46 and Mehta 2-23. Little threat appeared to be offered by the change bowlers and so Shenley will feel that victory would have been a real possibility had the top-order not been dismissed so cheaply.