Gentlemen of West London v. West XI

Sunday 19 July 2009, Old Tenisons Sports Club. West XI won toss. Cloudy, 21C

Won by 94 runs

The Bob Ashton Memorial Cup returned to The Gents’ trophy cabinet for the first time since 2002 after a vibrant performance at a gusty Motspur Park. A record opening stand in this series of 113 in just 18.5 overs between Naveed Khan (seven fours) and Richard Gilkes (twelve fours and a six), carried on by some big hitting from Suman Rudru and the middle order, set up a mammoth score of 237-5. West XI replied with guts and skill but in the teeth of some accurate bowling gradually fell behind the required rate to finish 94 runs short. We therefore toast the victors and commiserate with the gallant losers and their fine captain. The game was played in a good spirit and roll on the third match in September.

Chris Wright inserted The Gents on a green wicket that played very true all day, though the captain of Old Tenisonians IIs had advised a Gent reconnaissance party on the Saturday night that it was a bowl first strip. After five quiet overs, Gents having moved to 18-0, Gilkes hit Hill out of the attack with three fours before a similar fusillade caused Bhatt to be retired from the fray after just two overs. Something special in the club’s history was being made flesh, both batsmen playing to the peak of their powers. Gilkes’s fifty, full of withering drives, cuts and pulls, came up to huge applause in the 14th over, the century partnership two overs later.

Gilkes fell in the second over of Taylor’s pacy spell, but Khan and Rudru added a quick 67 against testing bowling form Taylor, who deserved his figures and the twirl of Laing and the Daves. Both fell in Taylor’s final over, the latter to a fine catch at long on by Bhatt off a skier. Sciberras, Iqbal, Sanjay Patel and Inkollu (off the mark with a majestic six that landed ten yards over the long-on boundary) then scored heavily to take The Gents to a position from which they would have to bowl and field extraordinarily badly, or West XI bat extraordinarily well, to lose. The wise ones knew that neither scenario was an impossibility.

With no time to die wondering, Wright put his best batsmen in the top four positions, but Taylor was bowled in the second over by a corker from Inkollu which pitched leg and clipped the off bail. Boden and Wright then batted attractively before the latter was run out by Rudru off his own bowling, the Beggar captain sportingly walking after the umpire was unsighted. Boden looked to be on for a big score but clipped Hemin Patel to silly mid-off Sanjay Patel, who took a smart diving catch. Snelling then embarked on a spell of parsimony, opening with the day’s first two maidens, the first No. 43 of the game, so true was the wicket.

The required run rate rose to ten after 20 overs and victory drew closer with the sensational dismissal of Bhatt off Inkollu. In a reprise of Rudru’s dismissal, he launched a ball into the clouds high over deep mid-wicket. Three fielders converged on the ball, but Khan it was who ran and caught it running away from the wicket, a marvellous feat of hand-eye co-ordination. The bowlers and fielders were inspired by this and the innings was smothered until life became extinct, the Patels and Sciberras gaining further scalps.