Match Report: Brixton Barbarians Alleyn CC vs NECC
Brixton Barbarians were hosting us at their new home, Alleyn CC's Edward Alleyn Ground, which was a lovely setting for our first ever away encounter with the Baa-Baas.
Laurence Pinn, captain of the Barbarians, wanted to bowl first and we were happy to bat first hoping to use the cloudy, windy weather expect later in the afternoon and so we did away with the toss.
Opening the Exiles batting alongside Sam was the dashing figure of club stalwart, Paul, returning for his first game of the season and they started steadily under conditions ideal for bowling but both fell inside the first 10 overs; a wicket a piece to each of the opening bowlers, Pete and Jamie. A heavy shower then stopped play for 20 minutes, the Barbarians doing well to get the covers on the pitch just in time for the deluge.
After the resumption of play, a strong wind and light drizzle made batting challenging and our captain, at this point at the crease, was doubting his decision to bat first but took solace in the hope that even more bowling-friendly conditions would follow.
Pete, who had bowled a very testing opening spell, was replaced by Imi who was a man on a mission. He started with a maiden which was followed by a double-wicket maiden, trapping the captain, Kalp leg before and disturbing the timber of former Exile captain, Bilal.
Luke, currently in a particular good run of form, was run out trying a quick single against Jamie at mid-on who swooped in and hit the stumps with an underarm flick. Kashif followed soon after by losing his off stump to an outswinger from Shahid.
As has been the case for our batting a couple of times this season, one brought four and the score had suddenly gone from 44 for 2 to 44 for 6!
Jack and Raj steadied the ship briefly before Raj was skittled triggering a return to the crease for Sajid after a two-year hiatus. Getting off the mark off his first ball, he looked like he had never been away and two boundaries in his first five deliveries strengthened that belief.
On a difficult wicket, this attacking approach did not, however, last long and he was caught after an explosive 11 from eight balls. Charlie then joined Jack for a patient - and invaluable partnership - of 45 taking the score into three figures. Charlie proceeded to grind out a top-scoring 22 before he fell to the golden arm of Dijan and a patient 20 from Jack, bowled by Imi, took us to 111: all out in 28 overs.
The Brixton Barbarians were very pleased with their effort in the field, but we were quietly confident too. A fantastic effort from Imi bringing his figures of three wickets for two runs in four overs.
The catching practice in the break was more of a dropping practice but we were happy to get the butter off the fingers before we started. In windy conditions, Tom and Ed opened the batting against Jack and Aidan and the latter trapped Tom before the stumps to give us the early wicket that we needed.
Jack was testing the batsmen at the other end using the wind behind him to swing the ball and he snuck a quick yorker past Laurence to give us the second wicket of the innings.
Aidan must have started to feel sorry for the home team and tried to help them with two full tosses to Ed Smith which were smartly put away for boundaries. Meanwhile, Jack kept Ed on his toes and then pinned him on his toes to get his LBW. The other end then saw the wily, metronomic Sajid come into the attack and he set about dismissing Peter right away.
Trying to stem the tide of wickets, Jonathan was battling hard, putting his body on the line and denying Jack any more wickets; Jack finishing a fantastic spell of six overs for two wickets while conceding only three runs. Sajid’s change of pace to Imi was too good for him resulting in an easy caught and bowled and Charlie, replacing Jack, also struck immediately with one that bounced and was caught brilliantly behind by Luke.
Anthony soon followed, clean bowled by Charlie and in the subsequent over, Sajid got Shahid caught at slip off a defensive prod. Later in the over, Kato was dismissed, hitting the ball twice - a rare but unfortunate dismissal. The fielding captain withdrew the appeal, but the batsman walked off accepting the umpire’s decision in good spirits.
Charlie finished the innings having Jamie caught at point by Bilal to finish an incredible fight back which registered an 83-run win in difficult batting conditions.
Sajid’s return to the team was very welcome as he finished with three wickets for just nine runs off his six overs. Charlie continued his amazing form with the ball taking three wickets for three runs and top-scored with 22.
The player of the match is Jack for his solid innings of 20 off 48 balls that arrested the middle-order collapse as well as an amazing spell of bowling which helped take apart the top order of the Barbarians.
Thank you very much to Laurence and the Brixton Barbarians for hosting us on their wonderful new home ground.
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