Sporting Alfas Cricket Club Sporting Alfas 2nd X1 150 for 9 beat Levante C C 147 for 10
Alfas welcomed Levante to the Woodbridge Oval and both teams enjoyed a close, if low scoring game in Levante’s first outing of the season and the prelude to the opening fixture for both teams in the League in 3 short weeks.
It was agreed that Levante would take up their bats and Alfas strode out to the field to try and restrict Levante setting too high a target. With youth very much on display (7 under 18’s) the Alfas’s fielding and work was very enjoyable with 4 good catches taken.
An excellent opening spell from Basharat Ali and K. Perman saw Levante 19/2 after 11 overs before young Leo Laundon, hands smarting from a high catch taken to dismiss Lofthouse (6) came on with Raza taking over from K. Perman at the other end.
However, unfortunately for the two young bowlers, they were facing Little (29) and Hunt (35) who were not in the mood to take it easy on the kids! The two settled Levante men took the score on to 65 before Laundon kept one straight as an arrow and beat Little’s swing to take the stumps. Nugnes arrived and hit 4 off his 1st ball before Laundon took revenge straight away, K. Perman holding the catch and Levante had lost another 2 quick wickets, 70/4.
Hunt looked to step up the scoring and with 3 4’s in one over off Brown and looked like he was well set before the youngest Roper took out middle stump. What followed was the first disastrous run out of the day that saw Bungle depart calling for a run that was never on and Levante had again lost 2 wickets in 2 overs. Roper, with 2 more wickets and Laundon with another mopping up the tail and Levante ending all out for 149, both youngsters ending with 3 wickets each.
Brown and K. Perman strode out after tea hoping to make inroads to Levante’s total but nobody had told Nugnes that and with a special delivery first ball, beat T. Brown’s defensive push to demolish the stumps, 1/0 and with Alfas showing Levante “anything you can do, we can do better”, and then Alfas lost another quick wicket, just two balls later when Bash Ali edged his 2nd ball behind, 2/0 when Byrne joined K. Perman on the 4th ball of the match.
The new pair then added a quick 70 runs with K. Perman smashing 8 boundaries, 3 of them maximums and Byrne and Nugnes enjoying some friendly banter in the middle before Byrne fell to the 2nd disastrous run out of the day. Clipping one legside, Ceasera just failed to take a full length catch but Byrne then switched off and Ceasera, in an act of anger at dropping the catch, hit the stumps directly with Byrne walking, and he carried on walking all the way back to the pavilion, not quite believing his stupidity.
Alfas then went on to lose 5 wickets in 8 overs through controlled bowling from Levante and at the drinks break, the match was very much in the balance, Alfas on 94/7 off 20 Overs. However, with Evans controlling the tail and rotating the strike,he managed to see Alfas over the line with an unbeaten 31 assisted admirably by Skipper Perman (12*) who managed to control himself for 13 overs to see his side home, however, with what turned out to be the last ball of the game, he did get a rush of blood to the head and edged one just over the Keeper’s glove for 4, Alfas ending on 151/9 and breathing a huge sigh of relief, neither team coming away with a distinct advantage ahead of the league opener in three weeks.
Sporting Alfas MoM – K. Perman – 51*, 1 Wicket, 1 Catch (Special mention to Kyle Roper for a very good bowling spell)
Kevin Laundon – Sporting Alfas
Related Article – https://www.cricketspain.es/news.php?id=1263