WWCC 1 v Civil Service 2
Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for the wanderers’ first team who could not continue on their recent good form. Sami Jan’s good bowling removed the Civil Service top order. The majority of the runs from the hosts came through the due of Arjun Chandrasekar (40) and Bilal Iqbal (27). Skipper Nithin shined with the ball once again. He removed Iqbal and three of the lower order to finish with excellent figures of 4-20 from eight overs.
Bowling first, they bowled the hosts out for just 116. This was certainly an achievable total in 45 overs.
Once again Sean Graham and Haq opened the batting. It was the first time Graham found form with the bat so far this season. It was only a matter of time before he got into the swing of it. Graham scored a season-high 23 runs. Much like the second team game, wickets were falling at regular intervals.
Khalid contributed well with 20 runs. He now departs home to Afghanistan for his wedding. Skipper Nithin came in and smacked the ball for several boundaries, but was unfortunately caught before he could see out the game. He finished with 24 and top-scored for the Wanderers. Nithin departed with just over 20 runs left to win. Sean Dunk managed to score ten runs near the back end of the innings to set it up for an interesting finish.
The Wexford tail gave little resistance to the Civil Service bowlers ad were bowled out for 106, ten runs short of another victory.
WWCC 2 v North Kildare 5
As the 1 pm start approached, the wanderers were hit by a late arrival as one man had missed his bus to get him to the ground. To avoid starting the game with ten men, Luca Forte stood in to ensure eleven Wanderers men took to the field. Bowling first, the Wanderers looked to make early inroads into the North Kildare attack.
The opening duo of Steven Vuyk and Freddie Matfield bowled well in tandem. They kept the run rate below two runs an over by the time their respective spells ended. Matfield grabbed himself the early wicket of the North Kildare opener. He then removed the North Kildare number three, Mohammed Muzammil. Wicketkeeper Ultan Quirke took the catch, the first of the innings. This was vital to the innings as there had been four drops previous to this catch.
But the catch of the day was from Chethan, who took a one-handed catch over his head. Much like a hurler, which when the analogy was said on the field brought about some confused faces.
Drinks weren’t far along after, with North Kildare 39-4. They were still going at under two runs an over as the Wexford pitch was proving difficult to score on. This proved to be the story of the day as North Kildare finished up with only 96 runs. The bowling of Matty Vuyk and Bishnu meant that there were no free runs given up.
After his excellent catch, Chethan came on after drinks and took another three-wicket hall for the Wanderers. Wexford gave up 18 in extras, which was the second-highest contributor for North Kildare. Only their opening batsman Paramveer Singh (23), scored more. He was eventually dismissed by skipper Attila Stahlut. The bowling and fielding was excellent all day. Wexford only gave up five boundaries all game, which was incredibly impressive.
So Wexford were set 97 from 40 overs to win.
The opening partnership of Adrian Campbell and Aaron Murphy didn’t last long and both batsmen were removed for single-figure scores. Batting was going to be tough on this wicket. Keeper Ultan Quirke came in at three and played some lovely shots along with Sami (who eventually made it off the bus) and Stahlut. Stahlut was the top scorer of the Wexford batters. His well-worked 17 runs was vital to Wexford’s innings. It got them into a position to win the game as wickets fell elsewhere.
When the eight-wicket fell, Wexford were 79-8. With under twenty runs to win it was down to Bishnu, Matty Vuyk and Chethan to bat out the innings. Bishnu played the innings of the day and was the not-out batsman at the end. He used his experience to put away the bad balls and he made sure he stayed until the end. He finished with 16*. Thanks to his innings
Wexford won a tight game by one wicket. Bishnu played his last game for Wexford on Sunday, as he moves to Limerick. It was fitting that he was there to win it at the end.
Both teams play huge games next weekend in the T20 cups. It is set to be another exciting weekend of Cricket.
