Scorecard

North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI v North County 2 on Sun 14 Sep 2014 at 12.00pm
North Kildare Cricket Club Won By 7 Wkts (24/25pts)

Match report Unlike last season, the firsts' final game wasn't to be as thrilling as completing their league campaign with silverware, but there was still the certainty of safety riding on the result against an opposition that did not have fond memories of playing NK this season. North County - a side that NK had demolished in the league and had seen to with authority in the Tillain Cup were the firsts' final opposition of the 2014 season.

Neavyn inevitably lost the toss and County chose to bat first on the mat. County got off to a decent start, looking fairly comfortable with anything Wasif and Andy Chase had to offer. In the 6th over, the County openers were looking for a third run after Sheridan had clipped one off his legs to deep mid-wicket. There was a slight bit of hesitation - hesitation that proved to be Sheridan's undoing, as Imran zipped one in to Rob, right over the stumps from an absolute bullet arm which saw the opener way out of his crease thanks to Imran's brilliance in the filed. Oppositions' Manny Singh was County's next man in and should've been removed without scoring a run, when Wazzie had him stone dead in front, but to the disbelief of NK - Singh remained at the crease with some help from the umpire. Fortunately for NK, McGovern was given out LBW just a couple overs later and the decision was even stranger than the one that hadn't gone NK's way, with McGovern getting a large chunk of bat on the ball before it hit his pads. With Mcgovern's departure, County had reached 45-2 from 10 overs, until Wazzie picked up his second wicket when he clean bowled Rooney for a blob - 45-3. County's middle order seemed to give way when Gulab and Manny tied the opposition down which meant they needed to start taking risks to score runs. 45-3 turned into 73-6 as a result of tight, economical bowling from the Singh brothers and, two good catches from Mark and Vossie, but NK took their foot off the accelerator slightly and let oppo no.7 & no.8 get away from NK a little. After a stern talking to at drinks from Neavyn, the firsts came out with a bang and immediately got the breakthrough when Staunton chipped one straight down Vossie's throat and Manny had his fourth. From this point, County's innings crumbled and they could only add a further 6 runs after the dismissal of Staunton - North County all out for 101.

County were bowled out with 20 overs to spare in their innings which meant that NK were straight out to get their second innings underway. After an impressive display with the ball and in the field (despite the ground fielding being sloppy at times), NK were confident that they could knock off their target and assure themselves of div.3 cricket once again next season.

Rob and Wazzie faced the new ball which had probably lost its shape after the second over when Wazzie smashed Sluds for 14 off his first. Wazzie's fireworks didn't last anywhere near as long as NK would've liked, but his 18(9) got the firsts off to a flier and the desired start that NK were after. When Wazzie departed, both Mark and Imran followed soon after which left NK on 45-3 - not ideal as NK would've liked to have knocked off their target and gain full points in the process. However - at 45-3, there may have been a hiccup or two that could've left a few nervous moments towards the latter stages of the NK innings. Luckily for NK, Rob and Manny made sure that there was to be no such nervousness, despite North County appealing constantly with every chance they got. The pair batted until tea was taken and knocked off the required runs with ease after the break, Rob finishing on 39* and Manny on 30* after he spanked the last 14 required runs off McGovern's first 3 balls in the over.

So - the firsts finish with 7 wins and 7 defeats in their first season in div.3. Although the firsts could finish as high as 3rd in the league, there was a bittersweet feeling after the victory due to the fact that NK could've gained promotion pretty comfortably if it wasn't for the firsts' batting woes this season. Nevertheless - the firsts made a good account of themselves this season for the most part and can only get stronger next season in terms of awareness as to what to expect next season in div.3 once more.

Credit must go to NK's bowling attack this season who were particularly good and adjusted extremely well to the jump in standard - Wazzie and Manny in particular who were excellent the whole way throughout the season, to Rob for his captaincy this year and to Imran and Tom for their ton's this year. There is no doubt that NK will come back even stronger next year and will definitely be pushing for div.2 status with the platform laid this season.

A massive thank you goes to out Naomi for her tireless efforts in traveling with the firsts home and away to score for us, as well as to Gerry, Aíne and Jenny who filled in when they were needed to do so. Thanks to the support from the Vorster's, the Chase's, Gerry, Brian Horn, Kevin Conliffe, the majority of the ladies first team and to the many others who attended the firsts' games regularly throughout the season and to Vossie Vorster who never failed in capturing NK players being bowled... Your help and support is essential for the club's success and we appreciate it greatly.

'Til next season!

NV

North County 2 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 8w 2b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
13
101 (30.5 overs)		     
N. McGovern ct  bowled W. Ali 20 43 25 3 80.0
A. Sheridan run out  I. Ul-Haq/R. Neavyn 10 22 20 1 50.0
M. Singh ct  N. Vorster, bowled M. Singh 26 53 38 3 68.42
N. Rooney+ b  W. Ali 0 2 4 0
J. Grassi ct  M. Topping, bowled G. Singh 2 18 12 16.67
T. Richardson (c) b  M. Singh 1 7 5 20.0
B. Smyth b  M. Singh 14 45 28 1 50.0
R. Staunton ct  N. Vorster, bowled M. Singh 10 33 29 1 34.48
I. Arshad lbw  bowled I. Ul-Haq 4 5 8 1 50.0
S. Sluds Not Out  0 6 4 0
J. Mooney ct  M. Singh, bowled I. Ul-Haq 0 2 4 0

North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Wasif Ali7.0121210.503.00
Andrew Chase4.002200.005.50
Gulab Singh8.0028128.003.50
Manjeet Singh8.021944.752.37
Imran ul-Haq2.50723.502.47

North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
14w  
for 3 wickets
14
105
(26.3 overs)		    
Robert Neavyn Not Out  39 78 6 50.0 1
Wasif Ali b  S. Sluds 18 14 8 3 225.00
Mark Topping b  M. Singh 4 32 35 11.43 1
Imran ul-Haq lbw  M. Singh 0 1 1 0
Manjeet Singh Not Out  30 35 85.71 1 1
Tom Satchwell  
Neil Vorster   2
Sean Dalton  
Ian Walshe  
Andrew Chase  
Gulab Singh  

North County 2 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
T. Richardson6.012200.003.67
S. Sluds3.0027127.009.00
M. Singh8.021728.502.13
N. McGovern5.311900.003.45
R. Staunton1.001000.0010.00
A. Sheridan3.011000.003.33

  • Umpire :
  • Scorer :
    Naomi Scott-Hayward