Scorecard

United Warriors v Glenmore Cricket Club Glenmore Braves on Sat 28 Sep 2013 at 11am
Glenmore Cricket Club Won by 6 wickets

Match report The 1st XI's season ended as they had hoped way back in April, with promotion! Three years after being relegated from Division 1, they are now back following a comprehensive win over United Warriors. This is a fantastic achievement for Jon Bray's men, who finished 3rd in the division with seven wins and four defeats (the same record as in 2012).
It was a rare treat to be playing at Martindale for the final encounter of the season. Easily the best wicket and outfield in the city, it was a joy to be away from the long grass of Riley or the general misery of Inland Small. With it being a must win game Glenmore made a few changes to their team. In came Iqbal Sandhu and Adam Knox, both making their 1st XI debuts following some excellent recent performances in the 2nd XI. Martin Muyomba was also expected to play, but some confusion about availability meant he couldn't and so Glenmore took to the field with only nine men (with Joubert arriving late).
Bobby Gajendra and Ali Memon took the new ball, and both started well. Bobby, the human metronome, got into his usual rhythm by hitting the perfect line and length. Ali, enjoying the extra pace and bounce of the Martindale pitch, bowled with far greater confidence and was unfortunate not to pick up a wicket in his opening burst. Neither bowler could break through however as Usman and Munawar both looked to be watchful.
It was only when Ryan Jenkinson replaced Bobby that the first wicket came. Usman played an uncharacteristically ugly shot and sent the ball straight up in the air. Any number of Glenmore fielders could have taken the catch but Storey called for it and took it (relatively) safely in his gloves. This started something of a collapse for United, who were bottom of the league and destined for relegation. Jenkinson was bowling beautifully from around the wicket, and at the other end Ruwan Thushantha was proving a constant threat. Ruwan bowled with plenty of pace, wasn't afraid to use the short ball and had his first wicket when he produced one of the balls of the season. It was a perfectly pitched in swinger, which Munawar justifiably left outside off stump. The ball must have came back in a foot and just clipped the top of the off peg.
By this time Hardeep had arrived in his Glenmore gear to act as 12th man, and he was soon into the action. A short ball from Ruwan brought about a top edge from Bilal's bat, and Hardeep managed to get under a high one at square leg. Ruwan had Hardeep to thank again when he picked up his third wicket of the day, Qamar this time caught on the leg side. It was an excellent spell from Ruby, one of his best of the season, and he finished with 3-48 from 8 hostile overs.
Jenkinson has been on fire with the ball in recent weeks, making it his speciality to hit the stumps with some inswing from around the wicket. The latest batsman to fall victim to this mode of attack was Waqas Noor. The United skipper got the perfect full, swinging delivery first up and had no answer as it smashed into leg stump. Jenko also had a third success when Joubert took a comfortable catch in the covers, leaving the bearded Aussie with the impressive figures of 3-12 from seven overs.
Up until this moment everything had gone Glenmore's way. The bowling had been great, the catching had been rock solid, and the ground fielding had been superb, with Ryan and Knox leading the way. But, United's number 7 (Monty) clearly felt it was time to wrestle back some of the initiative. The big hitting import from the north east league immediately set about the Glenmore bowlers, taking 15 from Iqbal's first over. A few more boundaries followed and for a moment it looked as though Monty might change the game single handedly. Bray brought Bobby back into the attack, and the canny Sri Lanakan was soon pointing Monty back to the sidelines. Bobby was brave enough to keep the ball full and encourage the big shot, and he knocked back middle stump.
Bobby, who has again been wonderfully consistent this season, grabbed a second wicket when Adam Knox took a (relatively) comfortable catch at extra cover. Ali Memon was also reintroduced into the attack and finished the innings with two quick wickets. He clean bowled Malik with a beauty that nipped back a little, and had Abhi well caught by Gajendra. There had been a late flurry from Harshvir (19 not out) but Glenmore were delighted with their efforts, bowling United out for 152.

Following a 10 minute break Bray and Storey were striding out to the centre for the last time this season, both keen to make the most of the excellent batting conditions. Bray was first to enjoy the quick outfield when he pulled Harshvir for four in the opening over. The Glenmore skipper looked in fantastic nick and found the boundary on numerous occasions in the ten over spell before lunch. As always, Bray was quick to pull anything slightly short, but he was also much more comfortable playing through the line of the ball on the true Martindale pitch. One sumptuous cover drive for four will be long remembered.
At the other end Storey was looking less sure of himself, often times struggling to reach the wide dross sent down by Waqas. However, the pair made it safely through to lunch 48-0. Following the interval they made it three fifty partnerships in their last four games before Storey was caught at mid-on for 16.
Ryan went in at three and once again played with a fluency that's been apparent all season. Ever since his match winning knock in the season opener Jenko has batted beautifully, and United saw his full array of shots as he smashed 7 boundaries in a quick fire 33. Twice he lofted the ball straight down the ground, there were crisp cover drives and delicate leg glances. It was a top class knock and was only ended when Harshvir produced a ripper to beat his defence.
Iqbal came in with the game all but won and had some fun. Perhaps in a bid to warm himself up he swung at virtually every ball, three times finding the rope before holing out to long off.
Bray's innings had slowed down a little after lunch and the issue now was whether he could make it to his fifty before Glenmore reached their target. The answer would be no as Adam Knox came in and played with great panache. The left-hander showed his usual urgency, and three times sent the off-spinner Malik to the fence with variations of the sweep shot.
Knoxy's quick scoring meant Bray needed four runs to make fifty and secure the win. Instructions were yelled out from the boundary edge and when Usman sent down a slow half-tracker Bray's eyes lit up. He couldn't have asked for a more perfect ball to smash for four. But, fairytales don't always come true and instead of the perfect finish Bray was caught at mid-wicket for a fabulous 46! It was a super knock from the skipper who can take great pride in the way he played and has led the team to promotion this summer.
And so it was left to Knoxy to hit the winning runs and send Glenmore back into Division 1. Winners by 6 wickets, Glenmore had reached their total in just 24 overs. It was an excellent all round team display, with everyone contributing in some respect.
Massive congratulations to Jon Bray and his men for clinching promotion. They have played lots of excellent cricket this summer and fully deserve to be going up. All the bowlers have stood up at various times, with five bowlers making it to double figures on the wicket tally. And the batting unit has been more consistent than in recent years, with an unprecedented four guys making it past 200 runs for the summer. Thanks should go to every Glenmore player who represented the 1st XI. Everybody played their part this year, and there were plenty of vital performances which can easily be forgotten…Sandeep's game changing 43 in the win over Kanata Panthers, or Bijju's three quick wickets in the win over Cavaliers III just two examples.
It will not be easy up in Division 1 but if Glenmore continue to show the fight, spirit and team work that's been evident in 2013 then there's no reason why they can't succeed.

United Warriors Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
14w 5lb 
for 10 wickets
19
152 (39.3 overs)		     
Usman Mahmood ct  Storey b Jenkinson 23
Munawar b  Thushantha 9
Bilal ct  Hardeep b Thushantha 19
Waqas b  Jenkinson 0
Faizal ct  J.Malan b Jenkinson 3
Qamar ct  Hardeep b Ruwan 4
Monty b  Gajendra 32
Taimur ct  Gajendra b Memon 4
Abhi ct  Knox b Gajendra 4
Malik b  Memon 16
Harshvir Not Out  19

Glenmore Cricket Club Glenmore Braves Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Bobby Gajendra10.0121210.502.10
Ali Memon8.3137218.504.35
Ruwan Thushantha8.0148316.006.00
Ryan Jenkinson7.031234.001.71
Ikbal Sandhu6.033000.005.00

Glenmore Cricket Club Glenmore Braves Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
23w  
for 4 wickets
23
153		        
Jonathan Bray ct  mid wicket b Usman 46 60 8 76.67
Alex Storey ct  mid on b Faizal 16 42 3 38.10 1
Ryan Jenkinson b  Harshvir 33 18 7 183.33
Ikbal Sandhu ct  mid off b Malik 13 8 3 162.50
Adam Knox Not Out  18 10 3 180.0 1
Joubert Malan Not Out  0 1
Waseem Altaf  
Ruwan Thushantha  
Bobby Gajendra   1
Ali Memon  
Hardeep Dhaliwal   2

United Warriors Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Harshvir6.0026126.004.33
Waqas5.002900.005.80
Faizal6.0135135.005.83
Qamar2.00800.004.00
Malik4.0032132.008.00
Monty1.001000.0010.00
Usman0.30414.008.00

  • Umpire :
    Chinar Patriots III
  • Scorer :