Match Report by Max Bennett

Back Row (l to r): Sheldon Greenland, Adam Bennie, Anthony Wilcox, Ben Boorman, Aajay Cunningham, Max Bennett (†), Jack Ensor

Front Row: Caius Pawson ©, Joe Ridout, Henry Lloyd Hughes, Elliot Goss

It always looked like being a close one. Newcomers to the league Daman, fresh from a similarly emphatic demolition of Tower Hamlets, on an overcast Saturday morning on London Fields met a Bloody Lads side looking to extend their unbeaten start to the league campaign. Threats of rain later in the day led the captains to agree on an earlier start than usual, and after losing the toss eleven Bloody Lads took the field to prove themselves ‘da man’.

It was an explosive start, the fire of the bowling in stark contrast to the conditions. Greenland, continuing his pace and focus from last week’s five-for, ripped through Imran’s off stump. Ridout followed this up with the dismissal of Niyaz, Lloyd-Hughes taking an brilliant catch on the move and down low at square leg. The wickets counted to fall, almost at the rate of one an over, Ensor and Bennett combining for the run out of Sagir after his three boundaries, Daman 3 wickets down for only 19. The Lads’ opening bowlers dovetailed beautifully, Greenland’s pace and accuracy testing the batsmen’s technique, and Ridout getting the best out of the moisture in the air, swinging the ball miles. A couple of maiden overs built pressure on Daman, but Owais and Enayat resisted, until one of the BLCC wickets of the season thus far brought the breakthrough. Ridout worked Owais over with his first three balls and brought the edge on the fourth delivery, a curving out-swinger, Wilcox taking an exceptionally sharp catch at first slip. Cunningham was then brought into the attack, his variation foxing the batsmen for a maiden first over. Daman seemed in a hurry, new batsmen swinging whole-hearted at deliveries having just arrived at the crease. From the other end, Goss began one of the spells of the season to date. Bowling an extremely testing line and length, he drew the recently arrived Miyadad into playing across the line for his duck, Bennie catching well at mid-wicket, Daman now 30-5. He followed up his wicket-maiden, with another maiden. The Lads were vibing in the field, inventive chanting keeping spirits and focus up. A couple of boundaries carried the score to 54-6, Enayat targeting Cunningham given the miserliness of Goss. Cunningham responded with an absolute rip-snorter of an arm ball, pitching on the perfect length and turning beautifully to slip through Enayat’s gate, careering into his off stump. Goss followed this up with the dismissal of Salim in the following over, bowled with a perfect cutter pitching on middle and off that tore into leg stump. Daman now 56-7, with the Lads feeling confident, Afzal strode out and swung even more wildly than the new batsmen preceding him. He rode his luck with a couple of early flashes flying over the slip cordon, but got his eye in to coincide with Bennie’s first ever Bloody Lads over, that drew a punishing 28 runs. Anything back of a very full length was hammered all around the ground by Afzal in a bout of hitting that would have made any bowling look ordinary, Bennie unlucky and admirable in his unshakability. Down the other end, two huge appeals for LBW from Goss on Mukhtar were denied, frustration building. Bloody Lads’ heads dropped a little and focus in the field suffered as Daman moved to 103 before Goss’s off-cutter struck again, removing the danger man Afzal for 31. The same weapon brought further reward in his following over, removing Mukhtar for 18, Goss hitting leg stump for the third time in the day. He finished with figures of 7-2-19-4, a terrific performance that was a delight to watch. Eschewing drinks at 20 overs to get the job done, Greenland, having been brought back into the attack, finished off Daman with the first ball of the 21st over, taking Saad’s middle stump out of the ground. Daman were all out for 108, the first team to get more than a ton on the board against the Lads this year. The chase was on.

The chase was on at this point but the race for NELCL best dressed man was already wrapped up by Daman’s finest (Captain Pawson also pictured)

The Lads strode out confident, Wilcox and Pawson weathering the early storm of in-swingers from Imran and out-seamers from Niyaz. Having drilled one through the covers, Wilcox was drawn into a similar shot off the bowling of first change Afzal and an extremely sharp catch was taken at extra cover for his dismissal for 7. Bennie laboured to 9 before being bowled by a slower one from Mukhtar. Pawson departed for a persevering 12, the Lads at 33-3 and making harder work of the chase than had been anticipated. Boorman and Ensor took a swashbuckling attitude, Boorman drilling a couple of boundaries through backward point and mid-wicket. Ensor was caught and bowled for 4, and Boorman was unlucky to have one rear up erratically from a particularly uneven May London Fields pitch, caught off the shoulder at gully for 16, attempting to cut a short one. The Lads at 43-5, and looking decidedly wobbly. Greenland counter-punched, hitting one straight over the bowler’s head for a maximum, but fell fowl of the same uneven bounce as Boorman, going for 10. Fortunately, Mukhtar seemed to have something of a psychological breakdown after coming back on from the other end, his over going for 18 including 7 wides and 2 no-balls. After drinks, Bennett stuck in, belligerent in defence, and hitting a couple of boundaries through the covers. 

The run chase isn’t going so well at drinks but Lloyd Hughes and Bennett are keeping the vibes swelling

Lloyd-Hughes fell to a jaffer, bowled through the gate by the very constraining Salim. Cunningham was trapped LBW by the late movement of Afzal, as the opening bowlers came back on. Ridout and Bennett scampered vital runs, creeping towards the target. At 103-8, and looking set on 20, Bennett fell to a freak dismissal. Trying to flick one off his pads, the ball ricocheted from above the roll onto bat down between his legs and trickled agonisingly to the base of off-stump at a snail’s pace, the feather-light bail dropping off obligingly for Daman. 9 down, and with only 6 runs needed for the win, nerves were frayed on the boundary. Goss and Ridout brilliantly weathered a spell of tight bowling from the openers, Imran and Niyaz, a solitary single coming in 4 overs. The tension was extreme, the victory so near and yet so far. Finally, Ridout connected with one off the bowling of Imran in the 33rd over, looking for that one boundary to tie the scores. The ball fizzed off the bat, flying for a seemingly certain boundary, but he was caught agonisingly well at point and the Lads were all out for 104. Daman went wild, the Bloody Lads bereft.

When you see Jack Ensor trudging back, you know it hasn’t been a good day for the BLCC

Can’t hate losing to this guy

It was sobering, a defeat by four runs, the Lads left with a sense of what might have been with a more determined batting performance and minus that brief period of complacency in the field. Ultimately, though, Daman had the rub of the green on this occasion, so many chance incidents going their way, and the BLCC should look forward to making amends in the next league encounter, reassured that the fine margins will undoubtedly go their way later in the season.

Man of the Match: Elliot Goss for a brilliant pace bowling spell.