Glenmore Cricket Club News story


Rain ends Glenmore's hopes following Memon's 4-41

16 Jul 2012


After a week of record breaking temperatures in Calgary, the rain came on sunday to ruin what was shaping up to be a very interesting match. Glenmore will feel most frustrated at the heavens opening, seeing as they were looking in a reasonably strong position, and had again done well in the field.

United Warriors played in typically robust fashion from ball one, with all their batsmen looking to play their shots. However, for the first half of their innings they struggled against some exceptional bowling from the Glenmore openers, Bobby and Ali. Bobby (10-1-27-1) was his usual consistent self, finding some movement and not giving anything away. Ali (10-0-41-4) produced possibly his best performance for the club and was a constant threat. Regularly he beat the bat with his pace, away swing and the inconsistent bounce. 

Ali picked up the first two wickets to fall. The first, an edge through to the keeper and the second thanks to a very smart catch in the gully by Bobby. With both openers gone and less than 20 on the board, still the United boys went after the bowling. Imtiaz fell on his sword when he tried to smash Bobby down the ground but only sent the ball soaring skywards. It looked like it was BJ's catch but Ryan Jenkinson wanted it and ran from mid off to take a super catch.

Ali's two further wickets came with another caught behind and a superb clean bowled from a perfect yorker. Looking so dangerous it seemed odds on that Ali would complete his first five wicket haul in a Glenmore shirt. But, the batsmen kept playing and missing, and when a golden opportunity did come along Mr Memon didn't take it. A leading edge popped up and somehow Ali managed to misjudge the return catch and the ball landed safely over his head. This was a great shame as Ali certainly deserved a 5-fer. 

From being round about 80-8 United Warriors rode their luck at times but played some excellent attacking strokes to take the score onto 160. Rich Harvey was hit for a few hefty blows, but was unlucky with some dropped catches and missed stumpings. Ruwan also received some tap but managed to pick up two good wickets, the first of which was a beautiful out swinger to find the edge of the United's captain's bat. His second wicket provided Bobby's second catch of the day - the vice president holding onto a steepler at mid-off.

Harsh Gill and Malik Muzafar batted well down the order but the introduction of Asad Gul sent them both back to their teammates. Malik presented Rich was a simple catch at mid-wicket, while Asad did it all himself to get the final wicket, cleaning up Harsh with a full length straight one.

Again Glenmore were lively, energetic and enthusiastic in the field, and all the bowlers did well. The United tail did put some pressure on and dropped catches and misfields came as a result. Glenmore will be looking for a better response in those situations in future.

Special mention for Anand Gupta, who picked up a new nickname whilst fielding. When the ball was played to him at square leg and the batsmen set off for what was a suicidal single, a run out looked guaranteed. But, as Anand swooped in he lost his footing, slipped, and ended up on all fours. The comedy didn't end there, as he continued slipping and sliding in a bid to regain verticality. It really was Bambi-on-Ice, and we all wish 'Bambi' a pleasant vacation in August!

Glenmore's innings only lasted 10 overs before the downpour started and the game was abandoned. In that time Bambi bagged a duck, caught behind off his glove. Jon Bray showed the sort of steel and determination we have all come to expect, showing great resistance against the impressive Harsh Gill. And Alex Storey played one or two nice shots in his unbeaten 13.

Whether the run chase would have been successful, we shall never know. But, this was another encouraging display from Glenmore. Big thanks to Brijesh for sacrificing his sunday to do 12th man duties…very much appreciated.

There is now a two week break for golf. See you again in August!

Scorecard