Heartbreak for Gents as Beggars keep their nerve

Needing six runs off the final two overs with three wickets left, The Gents had one hand on the Bob Ashton Memorial Trophy, but were unable to retain their grasp, leaving the visitors victorious by two runs. West XI's loud celebrations testified to their relief, The Gents' stunned silence to their disappointment, for, led by Ahsan Iqbal's brilliant knock, they had fought back hard only to be denied at the last. A Beckenham decider it is then.

West XI lacked only Chris Dane from their strongest eleven but still fielded a powerful batting order, whereas The Gents lacked several major batsmen, including Khan and Wright, a late withdrawal due to illness. They were in any case without Sanjay Patel, holidaying with his family rather than, as Chris Wright rather cheaply put it, 'running scared' but it was a source of disappointment to the organiser how quickly a squad of 15 haemorrhaged to 11. At least it spared any tough selection decisions.

Denton inserted West XI, whose openers took 33 from the first six overs with boundaries and extras galore. Inkollu had Bapu given harshly lbw and Chris Wright was bowled heaving at Husain in the Saudi's final appearance. Taylor's attritional 20 in 23 overs was of signal importance but The Gents' seamers kept him and Vine in check before the Australian, nursing a pulled muscle, holed out off the returning Snelling to Sciberras, who ran twenty yards before clinging on just in front of the long-off boundary. This proved the turning point of the innings as Hemin Patel (4-2-12-4) and Daoud Shanvare (4.2-0-16-1) cleaned up, The Gents satisfied with 128 all out with 2.4 overs unbowled. Extras at 27 was the top score.

It was a similar comeback to the previous Sunday but, as on that occasion, it proved to be too high a total for a thin batting line-up to chase. Inkollu cracked the first ball of the reply for four but fell bowled Wright in the second over, though the watchful Sciberras and Husain added 49 in 15 overs before a collapse. Sciberras fell lbw to Allerton, Gilkes swished over a Taylor full-toss, Husain was bowled Hill, Hemin Patel chipped Hill to a hobbling Bapu at slip and Denton was bowled Hill, all horrible shots, and in eight overs Gents had slumped from 55-1 off 15 overs to 65-6 off 23.

The Iqbal/Buck stand so nearly won the game, the Pakistani surviving an early drop to card his highest score for the club as 45 came in 9.1 overs, the previously chirpy Beggars becoming rather quiet. If Mr. Vine is not trying to get under the batsman's skin, then West XI as a rule are struggling. The Golden Boy of Bermondsey Cricket, now resident in the bloody streets of Peckham, was bowled by the returning Bhatt in the 32nd. over but 11 runs came off the 33rd., bowled by Hill, including drives for four and the day's only six by Iqbal. Alas, Shanvare only scored one off the 34th. over, holing out to Wright off Bhatt, 122-8, five to tie, six to win.

Hill bowled a challenging last over, the product of his many years' experience, Snelling being run out as Iqbal pushed for a second run off the first ball. Toft then scampered a single and Iqbal declined to run on a hit to the boundary fielder. There was pandemonium as three were needed to win from the last ball, but Toft was run out. There was some muttering about whether the final ball should have been called wide, but non-striker Toft thought Sciberras's decision fair. If one has to ascribe West XI's remarkable win to one moment, let Steve Rennie's sliding boundary stop, turning a four into a two, be that moment.

The Gents could perhaps take encouragement from West XI's extremely loud (but, it should be said, harmless) cavortings, for they all but did it. In the opinion of this writer, the better, or at least the more consistent, side won here. Nothing West XI did touched the heights of the innings of Iqbal or the bowling of Hemin Patel, nor did they plumb the depths of The Gents' middle order batting, none of their players registering ducks.