4th XI defeat league leaders Upchurch

Upchurch 150/9 (50 overs)

Luke Whiley 15-6-19-2 Predrag Basic 13-2-34-2 Sachin Kolathai 3/24

Blackheath 151/5 (47 overs)

Sachin Kolathai 47no Mitu Ahmed 40 Vic Kandampully 30


Having travelled to Upchurch without an umpire, Blackheath forfeited the toss and were sent out to field by Upchurch captain Neil Fairclough. Despite choosing to bat, Upchurch struggled to make headway in the face of superbly tight bowling from Luke Whiley, and nagging swing from Predrag Basic, backed up by some committed fielding; which was epitomised by one spectacular stop from Jason Lambie. Although a couple of catches went begging, Pred and Luke reduced Upchurch to 44/4 at drinks.

Sachin Kolathai then ran through the middle order to leave Upchurch hanging on at 88/8 after 35 overs. However, a belligerent 9th wicket partnership of 62, aided by a few half-volleys, allowed Upchurch to scramble to 150/9.

After tea, Rob Bartlett and Vic Kandampully found themselves opening up against one bowler of raw pace with no radar, and one medium pace bowler of nagging length and line. Unfortunately, Rob had his gloves brushed by the quick lad and was caught behind early. Vic and Mitu then put together a partnership of around 75 to see off the new ball and to see off a number of the overs of their frustrating spinner Jim Philips. Mitu played some lovely pull and hook shots in his 40, while Vic grafted his way to 30 in uncharacteristically slow fashion.

At 80/1 it looked like we were cruising it, but Mitu, Terry Stark, Vic and Jason Lambie all fell in quick succession to leave Blackheath on 88/5. Happily, Sachin and Predrag got their heads down to see off Phillips, leaving Blackheath with 44 to win off the last 10. Having played himself in, Sachin then gradually accelerated the scoring with a series of delightful shots, while Predrag (8 not out) sensibly played the straight man at the other end. One expensive over from the erratic quick chap essentially sealed the deal, and Sachin then pressed the victory home with a couple of driven fours to clinch the match with time to spare, finishing on 47 not out.

In conjunction with the win against Canterbury, this game proves that we can beat anyone in this league if we perform our basics correctly. Whenever we have done so this season, we have created winning positions. The problem that we have faced has been that we have not done the basics correctly often enough - too often, we have dropped catches, bowled inaccurately or run poorly between the wickets. These issues are entirely within our own control, and I know that - if we concentrate - we are more than capable of causing problems for anyone in the league.

Come on lads, let's go out there and back this performance up with another committed and disciplined showing next weekend.

Vic Kandampully