Scorecard

Stewarts Melville 4ths v Edinburgh South Cricket Club 3rd XI on Sat 21 May 2022 at 13:00
Edinburgh South Cricket Club Won by 1 wicket

Match report Today the 3s achieved the almost impossible.

Hosts at Inverleith arti were SMRH4s. They batted first to score 134, mostly thanks to 79 from one batsman A Rigby, who managed to play some great hard-hitting shots all along. Sriram had a dream opening spell with 4/11 pushing hosts on the backfoot initially. The energy on the field was electric for all 36 overs bowled.

In reply, 3s were soon in trouble at 20 for 4, but not before some brave hitting by opener Rod who smacked the ball well from the word go. Jas and Sriram tried to steady the ship by holding their grounds and not letting opposition run thru further wickets but which all too soon became 55 for 8. But then Jeremy, coming in to bat at 10, crashed three quick boundaries, so at the halfway break 3s were precisely on the rate at 67 for 8 though.

The ninth wicket soon fell on 75, bringing in Manik. When did we last score 60 for the tenth wicket? One of our new members this year, could a sturdy citizen like Manik support Jeremy for long enough? SMRH4s had their tails up, and were serving up some lively bowling.

Support? Manik had other ideas, and in no time he proceeded to eclipse Jeremy’s bright start, with a succession of huge hits all around the park. As 100 came up, the mood changed from assuming imminent defeat to wondering if we dare grab at a thin ray of hope. But of course, one ball, one mistake, would end the dream. SMRH4s made various bowling changes, as Manik’s assault unnerved them, inducing several wayward deliveries which were eagerly punished over the fast outfield. By this stage, every run was immediately put on the board. With two to win, Manik’s next effort went into a gap onside, and he produced an impressive sprint to get the two. This also completed his 50 not out, including 1 six and 9 fours - surely a record for a number 11 at ESCC. Jeremy finished on 21 not out.

This achieved an outrageous victory, to the inevitable contrasting emotions of wondrous acclaim and utter despair from the two sides. SMRH4s were nevertheless gracious in defeat.

Outrageous one-wicket victories like this don’t happen often but enjoy the memory when they do. The experience lets you develop the helpful characteristic of stubborn optimism in the face of apparently impossible odds.

**Special thanks to The Kashyaps who came in for the support and Our Legend Gerry for his support and this marvelous writeup.

Stewarts Melville 4ths Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
7w 8b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
16
134 (3.6 overs)		     
J Grace b  S.Govindan 13
P Sweeney ct  P.Griffiths b S.Govindan 2
F Percy-Robb b  S.Govindan 0
T Gillespie b  J.Singh 0
H Gupta lbw  M.Kapoor 4
A Rigby ct  M.Kapoor b S.Govindan 79
T Gray b  P.Singh 0
C Mclellan b  M.Kapoor 1
C Barr b  J.Blood 4
R Hayat Not Out  10
D Higgins ct  R.Hunt b P.Singh 5

Edinburgh South Cricket Club 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jaskaran Singh6.0017117.002.83
Sriram Govindan8.021142.751.38
Manik Kapoor6.0028214.004.67
Prabhneet Singh6.2135217.505.53
Jeremy Blood5.0014114.002.80
Gethin Williams4.002100.005.25

Edinburgh South Cricket Club 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 8w 7b 9lb 
for 9 wickets
25
135		        
Rod Hunt b  R.Hayat 14 3 1
Philip Griffiths b  R.Hayat 1 1
Rahul Dhar lbw  R.Hayat 0
Fahad Shafiq ct  R.Hayat 1
Jaskaran Singh ct  A.Rigby 11 1
Akshansh Tiwari ct  R.Hayat 0
Sriram Govindan b  T.Gillespie 10 1
Gethin Williams ct  T.Gillespie 0
Jeremy Blood Not Out  21 4
Prabhneet Singh b  T.Gillespie 2
Manik Kapoor Not Out  50 9 1 1

Stewarts Melville 4ths Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
R Hayat8.021452.801.75
F Percy-Robb4.001600.004.00
T Gray5.002600.005.20
C Barr3.001000.003.33
A Rigby4.0216116.004.00
T Gillespie5.001033.332.00
C McLellan2.001700.008.50
J Grace1.501200.006.55