Lanzarote International Tournament
The annual International tournament this year had the maximum of six teams involved. The first group consisted of Alder, Birmingham Nomads and the Lanzarote XI. The second group was made of Pimlico Strollers, Redbourne and Woodford Wells.
The tournament kicked off with the LCA playing Alder. After a wicket the second ball of the innings, a partnership of 228 was created between David Smith (117*) and Adam French (94) with the LCA finishing on 233-2 from their 20 overs. In reply, Alder never really got going with regular wickets falling until their demise at 87 all out. A superb spell of bowling from Ruble Singh with four wickets for only seven runs from his four overs.
The second game between Alder and Birmingham Nomads went a very similar way. Nomads scored 244-8 with Rana Hassan (45) and Attiq Chisti (69) being the main contributors before both retiring out. In reply, Alder mustered up a total of 100-5 from their 20 overs.
The final and somewhat controversial game was between the LCA and Birmingham. The LCA won the toss and elected to field. The LCA managed to retain the Nomads to 167-6 with additions from Rana Hassan (61) and Attiq Chisti (48). The rain then decided to make an appearance and in accordance with the time restraints in the tournament rules, the game was abandoned. As a result, the LCA won the group based on a better net run rate ahead of the Nomads with Alder finishing 3rd.
In the second group, the first game was between Woodford Wells and Pimlico. The wells opened up with a total of 181-6. Pimlico in response scurried along to 128-6 with a top score of 40* from Harsh Joshi.
The second game between the Wells and Redbourne was a closer fought affair. Redbourne set a total of 152 to chase with a huge help of some “Tropical assisted” extras which equated to 55! Woodford Wells looked ropey to start losing a few quick wickets to 9-3. A solid partnership of 94 then ensued between Paul Murphy (56) and Rory Ellison (46*) before the Wells knocked off the required total with ten balls to go.
The final game of the group between Redbourne and Pimlico would have no bearing on the final but was a decent game nonetheless. Redbourne set a total of 206 to chase with Dave Wright top scoring with 65. Steady wickets falling throughout the second innings saw Pimlico fall short on 158-8 and finishing bottom of their group.
The final once again was a fantastic spectacle between the LCA and Woodford Wells. LCA won the toss and elected to field. The Wells set off at a steady rate with the LCA keeping pressure on them. Gareth James top scored with 54 leaving a total of 158 for the LCA to chase. The LCA crept along just under the rate until the 15th over where the scoring needed to increase. Two big overs of 22 and 20 runs scored alleviated some of the pressure with 11 runs required to win from the final two overs. Ian Wilson bowled the 19th over with two runs scored but three wickets taken leaving the LCA requiring 9 runs to win from the last over. Surender Singh hit the first ball of the final over for 6 with the remaining runs scored with only two balls remaining.
Once again a fantastic demonstration of cricket with the Lanzarote XI coming out on top. A huge thank you to all involved, the masses of spectators in attendance and all of the tournament sponsors. Congratulations LCA!!
Macca Hynes
