New Rover Falter in a Short Run Chase

Olicanian win by 19 runs despite only scoring 152 at home

Despite a few expensive overs at the beginning of the first innings, New Rover took wickets at crucial moments and kept Olicanian to a modest score before tea. Aqsad Ali took four wickets but deserved five, and Carlo Zanella took three. Mohammad Khan made significant contributions too, taking three catches at first slip alongside an LBW and bowled. 

The biggest threats in the Olicanian batting line up came from Mustafa Sajjad, with 28 runs off 49 balls; and Jack Allport, with 40 runs off 73 balls. Unlike last week, New Rover were not going to let anyone go beyond these scores or indeed face enough balls to do so. The visitors took the final wicket three balls into the thirty-ninth over.

After a slightly early tea, New Rover came out with a real belief that they could quickly chase down a first innings score of 152. Furthermore, a victory would have kept a bit more of a cushion between the visitors and the bottom two places up for relegation. And, at 31-0 after the first six overs few would have seen New Rover running into serious trouble.

The home side introduced a bit of their own pressure for the next ten overs or so, with three wickets from first change, Thomas Kaznowski; and one from the opening bowler, Travis Morrison. But even at 55-4 at the end of the sixteenth over, New Rover remained in the stronger position. They were still going safely above the required run rate of around 2.5, and had 6 wickets to score under 100 runs. 

A fifth wicket came shortly before drinks, but the match completely flipped with a batting collapse between the thirty-first and thirty-second over. In the space of 7 balls, the visitors went from 108-5 to 108-8, and suddenly Olicanian found themselves in the driving seat. Two of these wickets belonged to Mustafa Sajjad, who’s consistent spin bowling right along the tail was rewarded with a five-wicket haul.

To the relative disbelief of both sides, the second innings ended at 133 runs, 19 runs short of the target. There wasn’t any individual error to pick out as the reason for New Rover’s loss, rather it felt like they are just out of the habit of winning. After such tight matches, they must remember that all they need is the odd run here or there and the occasional rub of the green.

This article can also be read at: New Rover CC