MADRID OUTCLASS VALENCIA GREEN

MADRID VERSUS VALENCIA GREEN

Madrid vs.Valencia Green, 4th July 2009 at La Manga.

Compiled by: Tim Doust, Madrid Cricket Club

Madrid won by 54 runs.

Sporting Alfas’ victory against Valencia Green the previous weekend meant that neither Madrid nor Valencia Green would be able to finish of the table, but there still bragging rights to be played for.

The match started badly for Valencia Green who turned up late and with players short. Making the most of the opportunity, Madrid decided to let Valencia Green field first in the midday heat and Tariq Ali (54) and David Leonida (24) scored freely, putting on 54 runs for the first wicket. The next two batsman were just as ruthless and when Mohammed Akmal (58) and Apul Kala (60) had helped push the score to 228 for 3 it looked like Madrid would score 300 +. However, Valencia Green are not the reigning champions for nothing, and once the top order batsman had been dismissed, they bowled extremely well to take the final 7 wickets for just 44 runs. The Madrid innings finished in the 44^th over, on a score of 272 runs; Asif, Fiaz, Gulzar and Yasser all took 2 wickets.

When the Valencia Green innings started, the Madrid bowlers found the new ball was moving a long way in the air. There were only a handful of runs off the bat in the in the first 30 minutes, but the exaggerated movement meant a lot of wides were conceded. The first wicket fell fairly early, but Tikka Khan (61) and Imran Fiaz (46), batting at a high tempo, kept the visiting team on target. Once the fielding restrictions were lifted, Mohammed Akmal (3 – 37) came on to bowl, and with a disciplined display of spin bowling, took control of the game. Wickets fell at regular intervals and as Valencia Green fell further and further behind the run-rate it looked like the only possible outcome would be a straightforward victory for Madrid; however, Attique Ul-Rehman (47) wasn’t going to go down without a fight. He made his intentions clear as soon as he took strike, hitting the first ball he received back over the bowlers head for 6 and, in what turned out to be the last over of the day, he hit two 4s, three 6s and to the chagrin of his team-mates was caught on the boundary off the final ball of the 40^th over with his team on 218 runs.