Scorecard

North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI v Laois 1 on Sun 16 Aug 2015 at 12.30
North Kildare Cricket Club Won By 4 Wickets (22/25pts)

Match report Most seasons when North Kildare and Laois clash, there is a significant level of desire for both sides to get one up on their Midland rivals. This season; that desire had never been so intense with a win for either side being of vital importance. If Laois were to take a win away from the Maws, it would make promotion for NK nigh-on impossible. However; a win for the firsts would put even more pressure on the top two teams in the division and for Louis and Clint (who joined NK from Laois), they had an awful lot of pride to play for as well as wanting to justify their move to the Maws.

Rob won the toss once again and opted to field first on the mat - sticking with the game plan that NK had success with against Pembroke. Louis and Wasif opened up against Rixie (a North Kildare hockey coach) and Blackley who got things under way for Laois and got the opposition off to a slow and steady start, although Clint and PR were a matter of inches away from removing both from direct hits following some rather calamitous running between the wickets. As well as this; Louis was far too hot to handle for both openers, who struggled to get anywhere near Louis' hostile short ball. Although North Kildare had restricted the opening pair to under 4-an-over, the firsts were aware of what was to come in the oppo batting line-up and knew that the opening partnership needed to be broken before a platform for Meraj and Ramazan was laid to wreak havoc in the latter stages of the innings. Manny was brought into the attack and found the breakthrough in his third over, clean bowling Blackley when he played across the line looking to hit Manny for consecutive boundaries: 72-1. 72-1 then turned into 84-4 thanks to Manny applying huge pressure at one end with Wazzie executing his plans brilliantly at the other. The three wickets to fall were that of Rixie (just 6 runs away from a half-century), Ramazan and more importantly - a man that had tortured NK in the past, Meraj - both for single figures. After the collapse, Laois continued to lose wickets regularly and other than a short stand from Smit (28) and Yasin (23) who hit PR for 16 from an over; there was very little resistance offered from the opposition and Laois were eventually bowled out for a modest 198; Wasif, Louis and Manny doing the bulk of the damage.

Other than a dropped catch from PR (although the ball never appeared to actually leave the ground); the firsts had done a solid all-round job in the field with two good catches for Dollars under the high ball and Wasif had produced his best bowling performance this season, finishing with excellent figures of 9.2-2-35-4. Mention to Louis who bowled with good heat and aggression and to Manny who smothered the opposition by going at just over 3-an-over.

In reply, Manny opened up with Wazzle who had nailed his position at the top of the order down with authority in previous weeks. Manny took the first ball and immediately got himself off the mark. What happened next could not have been predicted. The next five balls of Laois opener, Khan's first over went like this: 4,4,4,4,4 and Wazzle had got NK off to an absolute flier. Shauket tied Manny down in his first over which seemed to anger Wazzle and spur him on to hit Khan's second over for 19 and North Kildare had reached 40 from just 3 overs for the loss of no wicket. Wasif de Villiers wasn't happy destroying just one of the opposition openers, so he decided he would clobber Shauket for 3 consecutive boundaries from his second over too. Unfortunately for Wasif (and for all that watched on), Shauket changed his angle of attack to around the wicket and bowled Wazzle with an excellent yorker, bringing an end to the fireworks and sending Wazzle on his way for a ridiculous 14 ball 45 in which he faced a single dot ball... batted Wazz! To make matters worse for the opposition; PR (averaging 40 in the division 3) strode to the middle to greet Manny who had looked in sublime touch early doors. Surprisingly; PR was soon back on the benches, going for single figures for only the second time this season. Dollars (who was sent in at four) joined Manny and was dropped at first slip very first delivery which was to play a influential part in which side was to win the game. Once Dollars found his feet at the crease, he looked in excellent nick and the pairing of Manny and the Dalts was a joy to watch. The left/right combination put on 59 together during a partnership exhibiting some beautiful timing and placement and came to an untimely end when Manny skipped down the crease and whipped one straight to deep mid-wicket, but not before he had scored a close to run a ball 45 in which he looked in complete control, barely playing a shot in anger. Rob was next man in, but when Smit was introduced into the attack - the left-armer that Rob could never quite get on top on - he was bowled for just 12 and Imran was next man in. Immy was then bowled for a first ball duck to add to his woes in the league this year and Tommy went for single figures which left Dollars and Vossie finish off proceedings with Dollars reaching his first half-century for the firsts this season. Dollars had his share of luck (being dropped twice in his innings), but once he got through the tough period at the beginning of his innings, the left-hander looked classy and in full control as Manny did earlier in the innings. Dollars finished up with a beautifully made 55(79) and took his chance with open arms to press his claims at four further.

So - for the second time in a row, NK had bowled first and chased down a target of less than 200 with ease thanks to the perfect start from Wazzle yet again and one of the middle order batsman standing up and getting a score to get NK over the line with a huge amount of ease.

The four wicket victory pushes North Kildare up to third in the league and was a hugely important victory in their promotion campaign. The firsts await a visit from Phoenix at home in their next outing and will look to win their third game on the bounce in the league, which will be a new accolade for the firsts if they are to beat Phoenix for the second time this season.

NV

Laois 1 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 24w 10lb 
for 10 wickets
35
198 (45.2 overs)		     
R. Rixon-Fuller lbw  bowled W. Ali 44 66 4 66.67
P. Blackley b  M. Singh 19 36 3 52.78
M. Ramazan (+) ct  S. Dalton, bowled W. Ali 5 24 1 20.83
R. Meraj (C) b  W. Ali 4 14 28.57
A. Siddiqi b  I. Ul-Haq 12 24 2 50.0
A. Smit ct  behind R. Neavyn, bowled L. Hofmeyr 28 34 4 1 82.35
S. Shauket ct  S. Dalton, bowled P. Ryan 11 12 1 91.67
M. Yasin b  L. Hofmeyr 23 22 4 104.55
N. Anwar ct  L. Hoymeyr 1 7 14.29
A. Khan Not Out  10 15 1 66.67
G. Singh lbw  bowled W. Ali 6 18 33.33

North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Louis Hofmeyr10.0131215.503.10
Paul Ryan9.0058158.006.44
Manjeet Singh10.0332132.003.20
Wasif Ali9.223548.753.75
Imran ul-Haq3.0016116.005.33
Clint Auret4.0016116.004.00

North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
15w 10b 5lb 
for 6 wickets
30
199
(35.1 overs)		    
Manjeet Singh ct  A. Smit, bowled M. Yasin 45 50 4 1 90.0
Wasif Ali b  S. Shauket 45 14 9 1 321.43
Paul Ryan ct  N. Anwar, bowled A. Smit 5 13 1 38.46
Sean Dalton Not Out  55 79 7 69.62 2
Robert Neavyn b  A. Smit 12 33 2 36.36 1
Imran ul-Haq b  A. Smit 0 1 0
Tom Satchwell b  S. Shauket 5 10 50.0
Neil Vorster Not Out  3 10 30.0
Clint Auret  
Louis Hofmeyr   1
Andrew Chase  

Laois 1 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
A. Khan6.006400.0010.67
S. Shauket8.0036218.004.50
A. Smit9.1035311.673.82
A. Siddiqi3.001800.006.00
R. Meraj6.002100.003.50
M. Yasin3.0011111.003.67

  • Umpire :
  • Scorer :
    Naomi Scott-Hayward