OLD EMANUEL 140

OLD MID-WHITGIFTIAN

Match Abandoned

Old Mid-Whitgiftian were denied the chance to put a safe distance between themselves and the bottom two when their match with Old Emanuel on Saturday was abandoned due to rain, writes Rob Keenan.

It was a particularly frustrating outcome for Mids who had bowled themselves into a strong position by dismissing Old Emanuel for just 140.

Having been invited to bat first, the visitors collapsed completely after openers Arvind Maan and Jay Patel had laid a solid platform for their team mates to build on.

In-form Maan played with his customary elegance to score 34 in an opening stand of 61 before wicketkeeper James Wilson took a wonderful catch down the leg side off the bowling of Gavin Piper to dismiss him.

Tight bowling from Piper and Tony Brugnoli had kept Patel quiet for a long period and the Old Emanuel opener was caught by Richard Piggin off Brugnoli when he tried to break free from the shackles.

The visitors slipped deeper into trouble when the dangerous Kaushal Dewara threw his wicket away, smashing a Piper delivery straight to Piggin at mid-wicket.

Another astute bowling change saw James Carpenter brought into the attack and the left arm spinner took three wickets in his first four overs to help reduce Old Emanuel to 85-6.

Wilson took a sharp stumping to remove captain Dillsworth, Manish Patel gifted Tony Brugnoli an easy catch in the slips and Michael Stranks was given out lbw.

Number eight Prashant Dhamankar spared the visitors’ blushes, hitting 31 off just 32 balls as he combined with Dave Debidin to frustrate Mids for more than ten overs.

Debidin was eventually clean bowled by Brugnoli and the introduction of John McSherry finally ended Dhamankar’s resistance in the next over as Wilson picked up his third dismissal of the innings behind the stumps.

Zaka was left unbeaten on 13 as Old Emanuel were bowled out in the 46th over.

However, the drizzle which had persisted for much of the match became far heavier as the OMW openers were walking out to start their reply and the umpires promptly sent the players back to the clubhouse.

Unfortunately, the rain never relented and the captains took the decision to abandon the match at 5.30 pm.

Two wins from the remaining five matches should still be enough to guarantee Division Two cricket next season for Mids who host Leatherhead and Cobham on Saturday as the competition reverts to the limited overs format.