10 August 2023 Stragglers of Asia vs Bluemantles at The Nevill Ground, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Result: Bluemantles won by 89 runs
Match Report:
Stragglers won the toss and elected to bowl. Billy Gravett and guest Sumit Bankar opened the bowling and kept the run rate low, with some good pace and accuracy on display. Stragglers were taking wickets at fairly regular intervals and the fielding on display was strong, making life difficult for the batting side.
The bowlers that followed also did well, Faisal, Danny Dawson and Milind Adbol all continuing to challenge the batsmen. Charith deserves special mention for bowling with real skill and control from the start of his spell and beating the bat on multiple occasions, he picked up two wickets and, on another day, could have had several more.
As the Bluemantles innings progressed their opener, who had looked a little less sure at the start began to find the middle of the bat more regularly and although not without chances suddenly found himself nearing his century, with overs running short, and him now having reached that milestone he really opened his shoulders and put on quick runs that took them to a strong total of 221 from their 40 overs.
With a strong batting line up the Stragglers felt they were certainly in the game and that on a decent batting pitch the total was competitive but certainly not out of sight. However, the chase never really got started, wickets fell all too often. Several of the top order rather gave their wicket away, playing round straight balls and not taking the necessary time to really get themselves in. The writing was on the wall fairly early on & the only major resistance came from Billy Gravett who bludgeoned his way to 63 playing some extraordinary shots.
Like some other games this season it was a real tale of two halves, a decent performance in the field that we were unable to back up when it was our turn to bat.
As ever, a fantastic setting & we will be back next year to try and make amends…
Innings of Bluemantles
| No. | Batsman
|
How out | Bowler | |
| 1 | G Burrough | Ct Stranger-Jones | S Bankar | 9 |
| 2 | H Park | Bowled | D Dawson | 121 |
| 3 | A Collins | Ct F Haider | C Cabraal | 22 |
| 4 | E Miller | LBW | C Cabraal | 1 |
| 5 | W Wheeler | Ct & Bowled | B Gravett | 18 |
| 6 | B McIntosh | Run out (d’Cruz) | 11 | |
| 7 | O Streets | Not out | 5 | |
| 8 | E Monington | Run out (B Gravett) | 24 | |
| 9 | C Hobden | Not out | 2 | |
| 10 | L Baron | Did not bat | ||
| 11 | F Sharpe | Did not bat | ||
| Extras | 8 | |||
| TOTAL | 7 wkts (40 overs) | 221 |
FOW 1-12; 2-100; 3-106; 4-145; 5-190; 6-190; 7-219.
Bowling
| Bowler
|
Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| B Gravett | 8 | 1 | 18 | 1 |
| S Bankar (g) | 4 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| F Haider (c) | 5 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| D Dawson | 6 | 0 | 48 | 1 |
| I Salter | 3 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| C Cabraal | 8 | 1 | 35 | 2 |
| M Adbol | 6 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
Innings of Stragglers of Asia
| No | Batsman | How Out | Bowler | Runs
|
| 1 | J Melhorn | Bowled | Monington | 1 |
| 2 | F Haider | Ct & bowled | Hobden | 8 |
| 3 | A d’ Cruz | Bowled | Baron | 12 |
| 4 | D Stranger-Jones (wkt) | Ct Wheeler | Baron | 2 |
| 5 | I Salter (capt) | Ct Streets | Sharpe | 9 |
| 6 | C Brown (MM) | Bowled | Hobden | 16 |
| 7 | B Gravett | Ct Burrough | Monington | 63 |
| 8 | S Bankar (g) | LBW | Hobden | 0 |
| 9 | M Adbol | LBW | Hobden | 0 |
| 10 | D Dawson | Not out | 12 | |
| 11 | C Cabraal | Bowled | Monington | 0 |
| Extras | 9 | |||
| TOTAL | All out (30.3 overs) | 132 |
FoW 1-2; 2-21; 3-25; 4-30; 5-43; 6-50; 7-75; 8-87; 9-126; 10-132
Bowling
| Bowler
|
Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| L Baron | 8 | 1 | 21 | 2 |
| E Monington | 7.3 | 2 | 20 | 3 |
| C Hobden | 8 | 3 | 31 | 4 |
| F Sharpe | 4 | 1 | 32 | 1 |
| B McIntosh | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
Umpire: