COMBINED COLLEGES TAKE SOUTHERN GROUP STAGE

COMBINED COLLEGES TAKE THE SOUTHERN LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Southern Spanish Cricket League

 Combined CCC v Cordoba CC 19 September 2010 .                  Won by Combined CCC by 10 Runs .

 Combined CCC won the toss and elected to Bat.

 Combined CCC 163 all out , 17 points.                     Cordoba CC 153 all out , 7 points.

After a long break to avoid playing in the extreme heat of summer two teams of slightly rusty cricketers met in Malaga to battle for the honours in the Southern Spanish League.  A series of close and hard fought matches has led to this final match being the championship decider.  Either side could carry off the trophy.  If we had one, that is. 

Combined Colleges won the toss and elected to bat.  With the first over going for 12 runs Combined Colleges might have thought they were in for a high scoring innings in this 35 over match.  Shoaib Hussain bowled the second over for just 1 run to put a stop to that idea.  The third over then cost another 12 runs but saw the fall of the first wicket.  The fourth over saw Shoaib continue in miserly mood, conceding just 2 runs.  Then in the sixth over he took the second wicket for just 1 run in the over (35 for 2) before ending his spell in the eighth over with one run conceded off it.  4 overs, 1 for 5.  Not a bad opening spell by any standard.  Tahir Mehmood and Waqas Ahmed shared the bowling for five overs to take the score to 77 for 3 before Raza Adil was introduced into the attack.  He set a trap at fine midwicket on the boundary, and bowling left arm over he tempted the batsman to hit hard to leg.  Opener Ashan Alwis duly obliged and whacked the third ball straight to fine midwicket who didn’t need to move except to raise his hands and make the catch.  Exit Ashan for a well made 19.  In the same over Brian Barrett top edged a lifting ball and was caught off a real skier somewhere near deep first slip.  Next over Tahir Mehmood struck again to leave Combined Colleges reeling on 80 for 6 off 15 overs.  The ship needed steadying and the old firm of Previn Menon and Mark Ward were at the wicket.  For seventeen overs they did their limpet act, taking the score to 153 for  off 32 overs.  With three overs to go they perished trying to raise the scoring rate.  Their loss gave rest of us the benefit of a cameo appearance by Shrad Fernando who shrugged off his years to guide the ball into the gaps for a very brief but entertaining innings before being bowled, last man out in the last over.

Cordoba suffered an early blow in their innings.  In only the second over Azar Ali edged a ball from Sameer Bagewdi to slip where Ashan Alwis took a rising catch away to his right.  Raza Adil and Kashif Mehmood then took control, knocking up runs steadily if not spectacularly to take Cordoba to 50 for 1 after 10 overs.  The loss of Raza Adil next over for 18 bought Shoaib Hussain to the wicket.  Miserly he may have been with the ball but with the bat he was altogether more generous, hitting his first ball for four through the covers.  Cordoba’s score moved on to 83 for 2 off 15 overs and they appeared to be in a very strong position.  Kasif Mehmood put an airborne off drive just too near Brian Barrett next over was duly caught off Ashan Alwis.  83 for 3 but still looking pretty good for a win.  Two overs later and Ashan had Waqas Ahmed caught by Azard Thajudeen at short mid off from a hard hit drive then in the same over Mustafa went before he’d had time to settle in, LBW.  83 for 5 off 18 overs and suddenly a win seemed a long way off.  Four overs without a wicket saw the score increase to 118 for 5 off 22 overs before the sixth wicket fell in the 23^rd.  All this time Shoaib Hussain was batting and moving steadily towards a half century.  With this dangerous batsman still at the crease and with his eye well and truly in the game was far from lost for Cordoba.  Next over that all changed.  Shoaib followed a ball from Ashan Alwis as it curved away to the off side and succeeded in getting an edge which looked for all the world as if it had beaten the keeper and was on its way to the boundary.  But then the diminutive form of Kasun Herath appeared flying through the air to capture the ball barely an inch off the ground in his outstretched left hand and somehow he kept it off the ground and in his hand.  Shoaib departed for exactly 50, no doubt thinking it will be a long time before he falls to so good a catch again.  In the same over the eighth wicket fell to leave the score on 131 for 8 – not looking too good for Cordoba.  At 138 for 9 off 26 overs Combined Colleges must have been feeling confident if not jubilant.  At 153 for 9 off 28 they may have been nearer to nervous than confident.  Brian Barrett by his own admission did not have one of his best bowling days but no doubt all that was forgotten when he bowled Munawar Hussain in the 29^th over to clinch the victory.

There are three contestants for Man of The Match award.  Shoaib Hussain for his 50 runs and mean bowling spell of 7 overs 2 for 12.  Ashan Alwis for his19 runs, 7 overs 5 for 26 and a slip catch.  Mr Extras for 49 by Cordoba and 24 by Combined Colleges.  With a margin of just 10 runs, Mr extras played a big part in the game.  The award goes to Ashan Alwis.

                            P    W    T   NR    L   BP  Pts
Combined Colleges           8    5    0    1    2   57  117
Cordoba                     8    4    0    0    4   55   95
Malaga                      8    2    0    1    6   16   46

• Combined Colleges (17) beat Cordoba (7) by 10 runs.
  La Manga, 19 September.
  Combined Colleges 163 (39.0 overs, Tahir Mahmood 4-26)
  Cordoba 153 (29.0 overs, Shoaib Hussein 50, Ashan Alwis 5-26)
• Cordoba (17) beat Malaga (-10) by Malaga forfeiting the game.
  Cordoba, 1 August.
• Combined Colleges (17) beat Malaga (5) by 47 runs.
  Malaga, 27 June.
  Combined Colleges 195-6 (25.0 overs, P Menon 59, K Herath 53)
  Malaga 148 (24.0 overs, Kazam Ali 35, Anwar 3-11)
• Combined Colleges (17) beat Malaga (0) because Malaga refused to complete the game.
  Malaga, 13 June.
• Cordoba (2) lost to Combined Colleges (19) by 7 wickets.
  Cordoba, 6 June.
  Cordoba 87 (24.0 overs, B Girling 3-14, S Bagewidi 3-23)
  Combined Colleges 91-3 (23.0 overs, N Alwis 36)
• Cordoba (19) beat Malaga (4) by 180 runs.
  Cordoba, 30 May.
  Cordoba 241-9 (35.0 overs, Raza Adil 53, Amjad Ali 3-17)
  Malaga 51 (13.3 overs, S Hussein 3-10, T Mehmood 3-17)
• Cordoba (20) beat Combined Colleges (5) by 147 runs.
  Cordoba, 23 May.
  Cordoba 276-6 (35.0 overs, Shoaib Hussein 141*)
  Combined Colleges 129 (24.0 overs, M Ward 48*, Imran Butt 5-21)
• Combined Colleges (4) lost to Malaga (17) by 3 wickets.
  Malaga, 16 May.
  Combined Colleges 108 (23.0 overs, Asif Tarar 3-18, Shahib 3-19)
  Malaga 111-7 (20.0 overs, Waqas Ali 66, B Barnett 3-36)
• Malaga (17) beat Cordoba (6) by 34 runs.
  Malaga, 8 May.
  Malaga 152 (27.0 overs, Waqas Ali 45, Waqas Ahmed 4-14, Shoaib Hussein 4-20)
  Cordoba 118 (13.0 overs, Asif Tarar 5-24, Waqar Ali 3-31)
• Cordoba (18) beat Malaga (7) by 25 runs.
  Cordoba, 2 May.
  Cordoba 191 (33.0 overs, S Hussein 77, Kazam 4-38)
  Malaga 166 (31.0 overs, Asif Tarar 38, Tahir Mohammed 5-42)
• Cordoba (6) lost to Combined Colleges (19) by 3 wickets.
  Cordoba, 24 April.
  Combined Colleges 195-7 (28.0 overs, Azard 56, Ashan 49)
  Cordoba 194 (33.0 overs, S Hussein 80, B Barnett 3-32)
• Combined Colleges (18) beat Malaga (6) by 90 runs.
  Malaga, 4 April.
  Combined Colleges 210 (33.0 overs, P Menon 44)
  Malaga 120 (25.0 overs, A Alwis 4-24)