2009 Results

Eccentric Flamingoes v Standard Life

06/08/2009	Newfield
Eccentric Flamingoes 126 for 6 (20 overs)	Standard Life 127 for 5 (17.3 overs)
B.Sawyer 26, L.Healy 17*	D.Studders 28, S.Colvin 25, A.Ritchie 25, S.Vaishnav 14
I.Wallace 2-7, G.Vasudevan 2-14	D.O'Gorman 1-8, C.Jebb 1-15

Won By 5 Wkts

We arrived in dribs and drabs at Inverleith for the return friendly with the Flamingoes, having convened a team that featured three debutants. Winning the toss, Wallaci elected to chase rather than throw in untried bowlers to defend a score. From the off we were as sharp as butter knives in the field, having one of those evenings where every throw seemed to hit the stumps. Apart from the ones that would actually have resulted in run-outs, of course. Nikhil did remove one of the openers with a direct hit from mid-on off Gopikrishnan's first ball and followed that up by taking a catch in Gopi's next over. Gopi looped one up to bowl Rijal for 18 in his 2-0-14-2 spell. Kirshin 2-0-7-0 and Hemant 2-0-7-0 had been wicketless and Snehalnayan (you can tell the scorebook is going to be a challenge) went for four fours in his 2-0-20-0. Sawyer continued to find the boundary off Watts (2-0-16-0) before retiring on 26 but Studders, finally finding his way to the cricket field late in the season, reined the Flamingoes in with a tidy 2-0-3-0. Nikhil had no joy in his 2-0-8-0 and Mark Francis brought to mind Joel Garner in appearance but not quite in delivery as he tested the umpire in his 2-0-20-0. The skipper showed the virtue of bowling straight as he twice hit timber and had a good LBW shout turned down in his 2-0-7-2 then Mabawza Ritchie showed why he lost his all-rounder tag as he went for 2-0-20-0, the penultimate ball of the innings being crashed for 6 as the Flamingoes compiled a respectable 126 for 6.

Indeed, it was a tally that was looking beyond our reach as the Colvinator slowed after an initial flurry of fours and Watts struggled before perishing, LBW for 4, to the demonic lobs of the elderly O'Gorman in the 6th over with the score on 27. Steve (25) retired at 40 then Snehal swished and missed a few times as the run rate began to climb. He was bowled for 14 in the 13th over, leaving us 64 runs to get off 44 balls. Studders and Ritchie began risking some runs and the sturdy Stud clobbered a 6 and a 4 off successive balls to retire on 28 with the target now down to a more manageable 31 runs off 26 balls. The final Eccentric bowlers weren't really up to containing Ritchie and Nikhil, despite a curious running incident where both found themselves at the same end as the ball and still managed to complete the run without dismissal. Alan retired on 25 after slamming three boundaries and Hemant (1*) joined Nikhil (9*) who secured victory with a four over mid-off. From struggling we somehow won easily with 15 balls to spare, having cracked 64 off 29 balls. A good game, ending in near darkness, with us doing the double over the Flamingoes this year.

Standard Life v Botanics

09/07/2009	Newfield
Standard Life 164 for 2 (20 overs)	Botanics 106 for 9 (18.5 overs)
A.Ritchie 76*, D.Sangster 43, S.Colvin 23	I.Arfan 24, M.de Kretzer 22, A.Anjaid 16, Rafiq 15
Rafiq 1-15, Barker 1-16	K.Blake 2-11, N.Chouguley 1-3, K.Lal 1-14, J.Whitson 1-16, P.Ahluwalia 1-17, C.Renilson 1-20

Won By 58 Runs

On another sunny evening we racked up the runs against the men (and lady) from the Botanics, with Alan Ritchie in especially fine form. He made hay as the sun shone, just passing his personal best for the club in the final over. Steve Colvin was more content to play the steadfast anchor role, scoring 23 out of an opening partnership of 74 off 64 balls. Sangsta was typically more aggressive, smiting a few boundaries and a six before slicing one to fly slip for 43 in the last over. 164 looked a robust total, our highest of the season.

The Botanics had wanted to play a retiral rule but, wary of the BofS debacle, Wallaci declined. In the event, none of the Botanics batsmen got past 25. Mabawza backed up his form with the bat by starting things off with a fine running catch off Kirshin (3-0-14-1) and doubled up with a catch off Pranay (3-0-17-1) who was turning it square. Deepak had no success (3-0-21-0) but James recovered from a second over aberration to hit timber (3-0-16-1). Wallaci and Pranay combined to run out the opposing skipper (see photo!) then Kieron had a good spell (3-0-11-2) in which he bowled one and induced a slice to cover. The skipper took a second simple catch off Cameron Renilson (3-0-20-1) leaving Nikhil (0.5-0-3-1) the honour of polishing off the Botanics' lady batsman, Lea Tsui.

Standard Life v Bank of Scotland

02/07/2009	Newfield
Bank of Scotland 135 all out (18.4 overs)	Standard Life 127 for 8 (20 overs)
Shehryan 27*, Craig 26, I.Barrass-Sykes 12	S.Colvin 27*, C.Goddard 27, G.Das 17*, N.Chouguley 13, K.Lal 13, D.Sangster 12
G.Das 3-16, P.Ahluwalia 2-21, N.Chouguley 1-6, I.Wallace 1-14, H.Kumar 1-33	A.N.Other 3-23, K.Azam 2-37

Lost By 8 Runs

Hmmm. On a scorching evening at Newfeld, we blew our chance of outright victory in the Insurance Trophy this year with an unexpected defeat at the hands of BofS. Lulled into a false sense of security by 11 years of victories over a weak BofS team, Wallaci agreed to a retire at 25 rule and, on losing the toss, found himself in the field. With the bowling spread around after the skipper (3-0-14-1) took a wicket in the first over, Goutam (3-0-16-3) enjoyed success on the slow, dry wicket, taking a caught and bowled, hitting timber and having Kevin Azam stumped by the Colvinator for a second ball duck. BofS did not appear to be scoring that quickly with Shehryan taking a good while to reach his retiral score, but there were plenty of wides and a smattering of boundary balls bowled despite Pranay (3-0-21-2) and Hemant (3-0-33-1) making further inroads into the BofS' batting. Goof went the distance as the opposing skipper hit his first ball for six and went swiftly to his retiral score, 2-0-27-0 for the Premier League spinner. A couple of run outs, from a good throw by Paul Watts and some suicidal running, brought the retirees back in but Nikhil (3.4-0-6-1) wrapped things up with an upheld LBW shout. The total of 135 was hard to reconcile in a messy scorebook.

Colvin was clothing it at one end but Dave S was clattering it from the other so we looked like we were on track until Dave was bowled by a low one for 12 in the fourth over. Goof and Colvin were peppering the fielders and incrementing the score by singles although when Goof finally hit a four the ball had to be changed due to a split seam. This perhaps explained why it had seemed to be going nowhere. Steve retired in the 9th over with the score on 53 but Paul Watts only lasted a couple of overs before being bowled for 3. Hemant heaved a lot to little effect and was caught for 1 and the runs required had suddenly leapt to 61 off 41 balls. This wasn't helped by Goof having to retire two balls later. Goutam and Nikhil had a go but Goutam couldn't pierce the field for a much-needed boundary and Nikhil only hit one four before being bowled for 13. Kirshin Lal looked like he could be an unlikely hero as he struck his first two balls for four to deep midwicket but he too returned a catch to the bowler. BofS didn't bowl as many wides as us (6 compared to 22) and weren't offering as many boundary balls and with Wallace and Pranay (golden duck) doing little to trouble the scorers, the 13 required off the final over was too much for the returning Colvin and the singular Das, who finally did manage a boundary off the last ball.

So, a lesson in underestimating opponents perhaps, but we didn't play as well as we could. Losing James at the last minute to a flooded kitchen didn't help either.

Standard Life v Eccentric Flamingoes

24/06/2009	Newfield
Standard Life 145 for 9 (20 overs)	Eccentric Flamingoes 113 for 9 (20 overs)
M.Forbes 32*, C.Goddard 29, K.Blake 23, P.Watts 13, D.Verma 12, H.Kumar 10*	B.Sawyers 26, N.Granger 25, N.Rijal 19
C.Smyth 2-15, B.Rainger 1-8, N.Granger 1-11, R.Malan 1-15, A.Munton 1-16, G.Henderson 1-28	M.Forbes 2-7, K.Lal 1-5, H.Kumar 1-5, P.Ahluwalia 1-10, P.Watts 1-15, M.Bonus 1-18

Won By 32 Runs

With June looking rather barren, as we've had to cry off from a couple of fixtures, it made a pleasant change to step on to Newfield in glorious sunshine with a full complement of players. And, remarkably, everyone got a bat and everyone got a bowl apart from Kieron who kept wicket and had to suffer the fact that everyone got a bowl. 21 wides tells its own story and perhaps was a factor in the game finishing at 9.15pm!

Winning the toss, Wallaci elected to bat and Murray Forbes and Paul Watts got us off to a good start, Murray clattering five fours to retire with the score at 35. Paul was a shade unlucky to be caught just inside the short legside boundary line for 13 but Cameron Renilson's golden duck on debut owed more to a rash shot. Goof returned to the hutch after two consecutive sixes, the second a fine straight hit down the ground then the middle order huffed and puffed against the varied Flamingoes' attack. Marty reached for a horrendous legside wide lob and somehow popped it up off the back of the bat to the keeper to depart for 3. Deepak cleared the boundary before being caught for 12 and with Kirshin Lal (3) run out, Wallace (3) bowled and Pranay (2) caught, Murray returned to earn a cheeky not out for the averages while Hemant struck a quick 10 not out.

145 for 9 meant we likely had enough runs to share the bowling round. Kirshin and Pranay took a wicket each on a slow turning wicket and Deepak was tidy but had no joy. Cameron and Marty tried their hand and despite the wide tally mounting, some generous umpiring and a lack of timing from the batsmen kept the score to reasonable proportions. Marty claimed his first wicket for the club as Murry ran in to hold a catch. Paul Watts had a wayward first over but struck timber in his second then Murray came on to claim a couple, the second a ridiculously simple caught and bowled. The Flamingoes weren't really threatening our tally by this stage despite a couple of retirals and some accurate bowling from Hemant was rewarded when he hit the top of off-stump in text-book fashion. Goof and Walls rounded off the innings with a mixed bag of spin and seam-up as we coasted to a 32-run victory. We're off the mark in friendlies for the season!

Scottish Widows v Standard Life

02/06/2009	Inch Park
Scottish Widows 115 for 7 (20 overs)	Standard Life 119 for 1 (18.0 overs)
V.Shah 26, M.Khan 24, E.Edwards 21	C.Goddard 51*, S.Colvin 34*, R.Donald 26
J.Whitson 2-19, K.Blake 2-24, D.Sangster 1-14, N.Chouguley 1-33	M.Khan 1-17

Won By 9 Wkts

Hurrah! After the poorest start to the season that I can recall, we were faced with the prospect of an unusually early Insurance Trophy battle with the ScWids at a near-derelict Inch Park. There are still no changing rooms following the fire back in 2007, temporary fencing and breeze-blocks line the burn and a pest zipping across the rugby pitch in a scramble bike further detracted from Inch Park's former status as one of the best Parks' pitches. It looked like we were going to be on a similar hiding to nothing as the Widows won the toss and batted and Shah clipped Nikhil's first ball for four and pulled his second ball for six into long grass and nettles. A new ball lost after two deliveries! Richard failed to hold on to a low down chance off the third ball and with two more fours to bring the tally to 20 off the opening over we were facing another long evening in the field. Wallaci fared little better, going for 10 in his first over, but Shah's approach cost him his wicket when he sliced one up for James to thankfully pouch running round from cover. 30 for 1 in the third over, Shah out for 26. Normal service resumed thereafter and we settled into a good fielding and bowling performance. Hannam slapped a short wide ball from Sangster to Jumpin' Ed Jenkins at cover who held a good catch. Dave bowled well, keeping Edwards quiet in his spell of 4-0-14-1. James came on and did for Gregson with a Whitson wobbler, second ball. He also found that nagging length which was problematic on a sporting green wicket. Edwards did finally smash a couple of boundaries but he then tried to hit James into the tree and was caught by Dave for 21. Goof dropped a hard chance standing up to James (4-0-19-2) and for a while it looked as though it could be costly as Khan started swinging and Kieron lost the plot with an over full of wides. Boundaries were hard to come by with Marty Bonus and Shazad Gul patrolling the lush turf and Wallace (4-0-21-0) found a good yorker length on his return. Kieron fixed his radar and had Rentia caught by Ed then Comis well held above his head by Steve Colvin at deep mid-on. 4-1-24-2 for the K-Man and 4-0-33-1 for Nikhil who finished well and ran out Khan for 24. 115 for 7 looked just under par especially as the Widows didn't look to be at full strength.

The run chase was a fine example of mixing up boundaries and sharp running and once you get going on a ground like Inch Park it becomes very difficult to defend a run a ball. Goof opened his account for the season with a fine slog-sweep for six but Richard set the early pace with fours and twos as Butcher struggled to contain the scoring. Khan (4-0-17-1) picked up Richard's wicket, caught at mid-off for 26, but the Colvinator joined Goof with the score on 43 in the 6th over and the new pairing kept up the good running. The ScWids changed bowlers frequently but no-one made an impact as Goof and Ste kept ahead of the rate pushing singles and twos and punishing the loose ball. Nobody succumbed to Scott Miller's lobs and Goof went to his fifty with the four that sealed victory. An unbeaten partnership of 76 saw us to a much-needed win with 12 balls to spare, Colvin 34* to Goof's 51*.

We still have to beat BoS to officially claim the Insurance Trophy but it looks as though there will be something in the cabinet this year after all. Shame it's still so early in the season!

Standard Life v Drummond Trinity

21/05/2009	Newfield (art.)
Standard Life 159 for 3 (20 overs)	Drummond Trinity 160 for 4 (17.3 overs)
D.Sangster 70*, R.Donald 25, S.Colvin 21, A.Ritchie 16, E.Jenkins 15	S.Nagi 101*, K.Mullins 20*
I.McIntyre 3-34	I.Wallace 2-20, N.Chouguley 1-17

Lost By 6 Wkts

Our first outing on the new artificial wicket at Newfield was not a happy one, especially if you were a bowler. The wicket played well enough but the boundaries were rather close for my liking as a match tally of 15 sixes and 27 fours will testify! We started reasonably well and had advanced to 64 at the halfway stage, Richard having been caught at mid-on for 25 and the Colvinator a tad unfortunate to be caught, one-handed by the oldest man on the park, for 21. Ed Jenkins hit six and out then Sangsta tucked into the change bowlers, making hay with the true bounce and short boundaries to flay six sixes in a 34-ball knock of 70*, support by Alan Ritchie on 16* in an unbeaten 4th wicket partnership of 73. Dave reached his fifty off 28 balls and took 20 off the last over. Having conceded 4 off his first nine balls, Davidson (4-0-58-0) went for 54 runs off his remaining 15 deliveries. However, it was a taste of things to come. McIntyre finished with 4-0-34-3 but Ahmed's 4-0-11-0 was the pick of the bowling figures.

It quickly became evident that anything full or short was going to be easily punished and, with the exception of Nikhil, we didn't disappoint the Drummond batsmen. Despite early wickets for the skipper and Nikhil (4-0-17-1), Drummond were on a par with us at the halfway stage. They then slammed 98 off 45 balls to win with 15 balls to spare. Goutam (2-0-26-1), Richard (3-0-37-0) and Sangster (2-0-30-0) were all shown the way to the boundary as opposing skipper Nagi cut loose. By the time Wallace returned the game was all but over and Nagi secured his century with another boundary and then the single to clinch the game. We didn't bowl well at all but we now know that a par score on this artificial wicket is up around 8 an over which isn't a happy prospect for us bowlers. Well batted to Nagi but we bow out of our second Parks' competition with the season barely underway.

Scottish & Newcastle v Standard Life

14/05/2009	Roseburn
Scottish & Newcastle 144 for 5 (20 overs)	Standard Life 140 for 3 (20 overs)
U.Saeed 72, D.Hall 43	R.Donald 51, D.Sangster 38*, S.Colvin 17, F.Suttie 15
J.Whitson 2-18, H.Kumar 1-18, G.Das 1-22	U.Saeed 1-12, D.Hall 1-17, A.Sheikh 1-30

Lost By 4 Runs

We returned to Roseburn on an evening that was sunny but even colder than two nights' previous and lost out narrowly in a Parks Trophy run feast. S&N were a bit of a two player team but we didn't get the two players out early enough and they bowled slightly better than us over the piece so we can't complain. With Wallace and Chouguley being picked off to the short boundary early on, S&N had raced to 28 off the first 3 overs. Nikhil reined it back in in the remainder of his spell (4-1-18-1) but Dave Sangster got the treatment as anything wayward was punished, Saeed favouring the shorter legside boundary. Dave's last two overs went for 22 as he finished wicketless on 4-0-34-0. A run-out chance was scorned around this time that could have lessened the damage but Goutam kept it reasonably tight in his first over then was hit to leg in his next. Hemant Kumar got away with an over of very short bowling before James came on and picked up a wicket with his first ball in two years, Hall sclaffing one to Hemant to be caught for 43, ending an opening partnership of 108. It should have been two in three balls as Fraser Suttie, back playing again after an even longer absence, spooned a dolly. Goutam (4-0-22-1) bowled Taylor for 1 but Saeed picked a couple of sixes up off James (3-0-18-2) before gloving one of Hemant's short balls down legside to Simon to be out for 72. Hemant finished with 2-0-18-1 and with the skipper (3-0-23-0) returning for the final over Scottish & Newcastle had amassed a total of 144 for 5 that looked gettable.

Richard Donald and Steve Colvin started steadily, bursting into life in the fourth over with a flurry of boundaries. The introduction of Hall halted that gallop with Steve simply caught for 17. 36 for 1 after 6 overs. Suttie displayed his usual preference for hitting the ball in the air and with Richard picking up the odd boundary we were keeping in touch and were a run ahead of them at the halfway stage. Saeed came on at that point, fizzing a beamer at Richard's gloves and being a bit swift for that time of the evening with the trees and setting sun at his back. With Hall proving difficult to get away (4-0-17-1) and Saaed proving difficult to lay a bat on, Fraser clothed one to mid-on to be caught for 15. With 71 needed off 7 overs, Richard and Dave began swinging in earnest, taking ten from Sheikh's first over then a thumping 17 off the returning Taylor. Having just passed his fifty, Richard was adjudged LBW for 51 off the first ball of the 16th over but Dave took up the mantle, hitting a six and a four to leave us needing 33 off 24 balls. Taylor went the distance again, with Kieron running lots of twos in addition to Dave smashing a straight six off a full toss. 17 needed off 18 balls, but Saeed still had an over to bowl. Sheikh bowled the 18th and only conceded a couple of twos as the boundaries started to elude us, then Saeed returned to bowl the penultimate over. Kieron drove the first ball for another two but four dot balls then a single meant we needed 10 off the last over to win. A single off the first brought Dave on strike but two swings and misses left us needing boundaries. Hitting to the long side, Dave could only manage a single, as did Kieron off the second last ball. A six off the last ball would have tied the scores and we would have won it but again Dave could only heave to the legside for two runs. A valiant late push by Dave (38*) and good running by Kieron (9*) but their partnership of 39 off 29 balls just came up short. Taylor went for 4-0-49-0 and Sheikh held it together at the end with 4-0-30-1.

Credit to Scottish & Newcastle who had a match winner in Umar Saeed (4-1-12-1) and an able supporter in Hall, but our bowling and fielding was just off the mark required and the total was just too much to chase. No Parks Trophy run this year.

Maccabi v Standard Life

12/05/2009	Roseburn
Standard Life 77 for 6 (18 overs)	Maccabi 78 for 0 (9.4 overs)
M.Bonus 21, K.Blake 19, I.Wallace 11*	C.Adams 39*, Shaukat 29*
Alum 4-7

Lost By 10 Wkts

Whichever way you look at it, we got stuffed. Baseball Boy Marty Bonus rode his luck to top score on debut as Maccabi shelled some sitters and with Kieron hoiking a few too, we started brightly enough in the sunshine and freezing breeze. The introduction of Alum did for the K-Man, caught for 19, then Sangster followed with a first-ball LBW. Second debutant Greg Chandler lasted a couple of balls longer for his duck and we were on a slippery slope from then on. Marty Bonus was finally bowled for 21 and skipper Wallace survived a very plum-looking LBW shout to record an inelegant 11 not out in the company of our third debutant, Taahira Hussain who shared a partnership of 21 with the skipper before being run out for 2 with two balls remaining.

78 looked a reasonable total on a challenging pitch but the Maccabi openers tucked into Sangster (3-0-19-0) and Chouguley (3-0-16-0) after a circumspect first couple of overs, with Shaukat hoisting a big six off Dave. Pranay (2-0-21-0) and his pal Praduman (1.4-0-15-0) could do little to stop the flow of runs, Adams greeting Pranay with a six and a four. A couple of chances went down but there was little hope of saving the game as Maccabi romped home with barely half the overs gone. James didn't even get a chance to bowl. At least we don't have the pressure of trying to preserve an unbeaten record this season.