Glenmore Cricket Club News story


Match Report: Glenmore T20 vs Chinar Patriots, July 21st

22 Jul 2013

Glenmore made it three wins on the spin with a dominant display over Chinar Patriots on Sunday. Their play-off hopes remain alive as they now await the final weekend of the league season.

Alex Storey (2) has been reasonably consistent in the T20 format this season but he was out in just the second over today, caught at mid-off from a leading edge. This prompted a stuttering start from Glenmore. Anjan (2) soon followed, also caught on the off-side off Adnan's bowling. A third wicket fell (that of Nabeel for 3 runs) with the score at just 32 in the 8th over. The innings needed a kick-start and it definitely got one from Iqbal. The big hitting danger man always looks likely to take the game away from the fielding side and this was his day. Having started in somewhat pedestrian fashion he was soon playing in his usual carefree way. Iqbal's biggest strength is his ability to hit straight down the ground and during his superb 55 he blazed away beautifully. He found a willing partner in Waseem Altaf (20) and together they put on 40 in quick time. They ran well together and Waseem hit three boundaries during his knock.

When Altaf was shockingly given out lbw (see photo section for evidence on the height) Wasim Naqshbandi joined Iqbal in the middle. By now Iqbal was seeing it like a beach ball and was carving the bowlers to all parts. Wasim did his job wonderfully well…nudging the ball into gaps and getting off strike. But, when Iqbal was run out, Wasim changed gears and took the initiative to maintain the scoring rate. He blasted consecutive fours to the leg side, and then spent the rest of his innings (25 excellent runs) running hard with his partner Pasha (6). 

40 runs came in the final five overs, taking the total to an impressive 146-8.

On what is quite a fast scoring ground, and with a tired fielding team (the fasting of Ramadan taking it's toll on a few), Chinar Patriots should really have put up more of a fight with the bat. As it turned out they never looked like chasing the runs down. Their innings seemed to lack any real fight and in the end Glenmore cruised home by 53 runs. 

Pasha was a little expensive, going for 16 from his two overs, but his opening partner Sandeep was far more accurate. Sandy, struggling a little following a late night at the Roadhouse, extracted steep bounce with his off-spin and always asked questions of the batsmen. He was the first to strike, teasing Affan into an ill-advised shot to Iqbal at mid-off. 

Nadeem was his immaculate best for three tight overs. Consistently finding that nagging length, Nadeem went for just 10 runs. He also picked up a wicket…the ball played into the deck, bounced up and hit the batsman's arm and gently rolled back onto the stumps. There was barely any forward momentum on the ball but the loose stumps meant a precariously positioned bail fell to earth.

Enter Nabeel Ayubi. The previous day Nabeel had played a match-winning hand with the bat, but today he was into the action with the ball. At times this season Nabeel has been a little inconsistent with his line and length, but he got it all working just fine at Westwinds. The Chinar batsmen all wanted to go after Nabeel but he never quite bowled it in the slot. Twice they attempted big shots but only managed to spoon the ball to Sandeep at cover point, who took the catch on both occasions. The second of these catches was a fantastic effort, running back and taking the ball over his right shoulder.

The wheels were well and truly coming off at this stage and panic had set in. Total confusion by Virek and Mohammad meant Asad and Storey were able to combine for an easy run out. Storey then took a catch behind the stumps off Nabeel's bowling (4-0-23-3). More wickets were coming than runs, and the game was all but up at this stage. Things continued to slide for Chinar as another chaotic run out (Sandy and Asad doing the work) sent Aqeel on his way.

Sandy had a good day in the field, taking two catches, helping with a run out and ending up with 2 for 19…his second wicket a clean bowled from a quicker delivery.

With Chinar requiring a monumental run rate Asad Gul was brought into the attack. One or two loose deliveries appeared in his first over, but as always Asad managed to pick up a couple of wickets too. The first was a perfect out swinger which took the edge of Ali's bat. His second wicket, and 10th to fall, came with a perfectly pitched yorker which knocked out middle stump.

This was another excellent display from Glenmore, All the bowlers looked good and followed up the good work of Iqbal, Wasim and Waseem. There was a fun atmosphere around the team today, and hopefully that good team spirit will continue into the final weekend of league games.