Glenmore picked up their first win of the T20 season against Cavaliers on Saturday. It ended in nail-biting fashion with Cavaliers needing 3 off the last ball. Thankfully Dave Sherjan put a dot ball in the book and the win was sealed.
Storey and Anjan again got Glenmore off to a solid if not spectacular start. They ticked along at a run a ball for the first three overs before Anjan (11) fell attempting a big shot over the top. Waseem Altaf (6), looked comfortable until he too fell looking to dominate the bowler. The pattern continued when Storey (18) tried to change gears and lofted Nouman straight to mid-off.
The Glenmore innings needed some stability and that came in the form of David Sherjan. Off the back of two hours sleep, Sherj produced a patient, intelligent and highly valuable knock. He ended up making 37 not out, combining lots of sharply taken singles and one huge six over mid-wicket.
Sherj found some batting buddies in Asad Gul and Iqbal Sandhu. Asad (15) played a lively innings, clobbering two fours along the way. Iqbal (17) took his time early on before whacking two straight fours.
Nathan and Nabeel both perished in the quest for some late runs but in the end Glenmore were pretty happy to have made 130-8.
Khawaja, Cavs' opening batsman, had hit Glenmore for a century last season, and he got off to a quick start again, banging successive fours to the square leg fence. And so it was a vital moment when he gloved a Hardeep delivery behind to the keeper. If that wicket owed a little to good fortune, the second to fall was all down to the bowler. Once again it was Hardeep who produced a perfect yorker to knock over Kamran.
Glenmore were well on top and bowling beautifully. Nathan Parr went wicketless but was economical. Pasha picked up Nouman, brilliantly caught by Hardeep at cover point. And Iqbal grabbed two wickets, thanks to sharp catches by Wasim and Ajay.
Ajay Pawar was in the action again when Nabeel was introduced to the attack. Deep played a firm drive but Ajay, positioned at short extra cover, took an instinctive catch despite slipping as he moved to his right.
At this stage Glenmore were bossing the game and a win looked inevitable. However, cricket is a funny old game and Cavaliers still fancied their chances. Number 8, Nawan, was the man who took the fight to Glenmore, producing a series of big shots and running hard with Irfan. They needed 30 from the final three overs. A tight over from Parr cranked the run rate required up to 13. However, a few boundaries off Nabeel's second over meant it was still up for grabs when Sherjan took the ball to bowl the 20th over. A few wides, a four through cover and then a six from the penultimate delivery was not what Dave or his teammates wanted. Nawan was on strike and needed three to win (2 to tie). Sherj went around the wicket, pitched it up and Nawan swung for the fences. A huge sigh of relief came from all the Glenmore players as the ball safely went through to the keeper for the match winning dot ball.
This was an excellent game of cricket, with both sides producing some good and not so good stuff. It finished, as T20s so often do, in thrilling fashion. Glenmore will be delighted to get their first win and will be hoping for a few more in the coming weeks.