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Played at Valentines Park, Ilford
Report by Hassan Khan (captain)

This fixture was played at Valentines Park, Ilford, once a venue for Essex County first class cricket.

Having won the toss, I elected to field due to overcast weather and a green wicket. Myself and left arm quick Yusuf Malji opened the bowling but we faced a serious problem: the St. Clements umpires refused ALL LBWs. As a result, the home batsmen cashed in. A 100 opening partnership ensued and edges flew to all parts. The pitch was perfect for swing and bounce but our 'breakthrough ' was from a rising short ball from Israr Khalil which hit the batsman's elbow, forcing him to retire hurt. Runs continued to flow and 300 beckoned until the O.F. secret weapon was deployed: Steve Hamilton bowled a tight off-stump line and was rewarded with 2-11 from four overs. He was ably supported by Israr, Matt Wake and Andy Huckle. Good hitting at the end took the home side to a respectable 205 from 40 overs.

Our optimism rapidly evaporated as the home bowlers made the ball talk. Adnan bowled at 70-75 mph with boomerang swing, crafty slower balls and deadly accurate bouncers. We had to see him off but failed to do so - he ripped through our top order until Naveen Kumar and myself took the total to 75-3 from 15 overs. I really felt I had to bat 40 overs for us to win against a stellar attack but holed out at mid off for a patient 18. A middle order collapse followed and 75-3 became 87-7.

As experienced cricket aficionados say "it's not over until the fat lady sings"... and a lower order fightback restored some pride. Matt W and Yusuf bravely put on a 48-run stand before Yusuf was snared by a brilliant slower ball from Adnan, who deservedly finished with 4-17 from eight overs. Steve joined Matt and the runs continued, with Steve blasting a couple of lusty blows. Last man John Shaw sauntered to the crease and cracked a classical turf-scorching whip to backward square leg - eat your heart out Rolling Stones! We finished our overs on 166-9, a decent performance against strong opposition.

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