Sporting Alfas Cricket Club Sporting Alfas 1st X1 215 for 9 beat Stord CC 183 for 10
Saturday and first eleven cricket returned to the Woodbridge Oval on yet another beautiful February day in Albir. Stord CC, from Norway, had made the journey and offered a fairly tough game if Fridays outing against the SACC XL club was anything to go by.
Stord winning the game when XL club failed to reach the target by just two runs. SACC firsts skipper won the toss and elected to bat first. Jack Perman was the first SACC man to fall on just six when hedging yet another short ball from Stord quickie Yaser. His ´send off´ reminisced of a scene from the walking dead as the Stord players massed and hissed their disapproval of Jack´s refusal to walk without the umpires decision
Laundon the next to get out in pretty much the same way, without the drama, but this time from first change bowler Sai. Ashraf´s inning was very short lived as he was clean bowled first ball. Antonio and Adam then took the score past fifty until Antonio Brown followed the openers and edged one to keeper Ulhaq. Kieran and Adam kept things ticking along until Kieran Perman took a walk and was well stumped by the impressive Ulhaq. 128 for 4 from16 overs, a steady start.
Abdul joined Adam and they took the score up to 190 when accelerating after reaching 50 Adam Alger, on 75, finally was out LBW. At 214 Abdul Wajid also walked by one and Ulhaq got his fifth victim, Ian Byrne spanked a cover drive but then got carried away and trying a defensive stroke was adjudged LBW which Kyle Roper batting at 10 also did the same so with SACC reduced to 10 men ended the first innings on a pretty much a par score. 215. Tariq Bahar was the pick of the bowlers with a 5 for 28 to his name.
Stord enjoyed the SACC hospitality then started the run chase against the 10 man SACC setup. Fida was the only Stord batsman to show any grit and rode his luck to reach 57 before, finally, being caught. Bayx reached 10 and on a day when catches where going down like a decent pint, one after the other, SACC stuck at it and actually took 7. Sami, Ali, Kevin, Tariq and Yaser all fell for less than 10, Hassan and Salf reached 17 each, and a last wicket stand of 56 by Ihsan and Nasrat meant Stord had reached a total of 183. Abdul Wajid and Kyle Roper carried on from last year claiming 3 wickets each, 2 for Kieran Perman and 1 each for Jack Perman and Darren Walker.
It was a decent work out first game up for SACC and hopefully the Stord cricketers left with a few memories one a day of glory and the other a day of defeat.
SPORTING ALFAS CRICKET CLUB