2s Cruise to Opening Day Win Print
Written by Faisal Anwar   
Sunday, 26 April 2015 10:48

2s team pic vs DC A new look 2s team travelled to sunny Dunfermline for their opening game in Division 6. The game was played on their artificial after some overnight rain, and with Dunfermline captain convinced it was going to rain later in the day, the game was reduced to 30 overs a side

The 2s are much changed from last year with the return of Faisal Anwar (aka the Spin King), following a year out recovering from Achilles surgery last summer, captaining the side this year, and the very welcome return of Kashif Khalid and Suresh Babu. The side also featured 3 excellent junior prospects in Jack Jarvis, Sadhil Jindal and Craig Andersen, the first two having been selected in the Under 14s Forth Valley team (more on that to come). Skipper Anwar called ‘tails never fails’, and it duly did, so the Kingfishers were invited to make first use of the artificial.

Kashif and Suresh opened the batting and got us off to a good start before Suresh was LBW with the score on 21 after 5 overs. This bought vice-captain Neil Jarvis to the crease, but Kashif was out soon after in the 7th over unfortunately losing his footing on the artificial and ending up run out. Skipper Anwar came in at 4 and with Neil set about putting some runs on the board and building a partnership. They added 31 in the next 7 overs before Cap’n Anwar was given out lbw by the ‘neutral’ umpire. Those of you who have followed Livi CC over the years will be accustomed to the inexplicable top order collapse that occurs now and again and today was no different as 3 wickets fell in quick succession to leave the Kingfishers on 65 for 5 at the midway point. However, some excellent middle / lower order end batting from first Mark Gray and Asam, and then Mark and Jack Jarvis, saw Livi add 47 runs in the final 14 overs, with Mark registering his highest score for the 2s and an excellent knock from Jack not out 19 (surpassing Jarvis senior in the process). In the end we reached 112 from our 30 overs, which at the time felt a bit short but was an excellent effort in the end from the team, and gave something for the bowlers to defend. Kashif top scored with a breezy 24, but there were important contributions from Mark Gray (13) and Jack Jarvis (19 no).

Given the reduced over game, it was decided that teas would be had after both innings, so a quick turn around and Livi were back out in the field. Kashif and Sushil bowled really well and kept it tight, putting Dunfermline under pressure early on, with Sushil getting the first wicket in the 6th over with the score on 15. Some lusty hitting from the other opener (one of an inordinate number of left handers in their team) helped Dunfermline get a footing in the game. But, in hindsight, the turning point in the innings was Kashif clean bowling the dangerous left hander with the score on 29 in the 9th over. Kashif and Sushil took a further wicket each after a bit of juggling in the slips from Neil and some very sharp work behind the stumps by Gordon, stumping their number 4 who had decided to not come back into his crease. With the score 31 for 4, Livi were in a dominant position. Cap’n Anwar bought himself on to bowl (captain's perogative :)), and was quickly into thewickets, taking four wickets in his first three overs, and despite his best efforts not quite being able to get that fifth wicket – as the Chairman pointed out later ‘4 fers’ (i.e. jug avoidance) are his speciality. With Dunfermline reeling on 46 for 8 off 17 overs, needing another 65 to win, Skipper Anwar took the opportunity give some of the youngsters in the team some much needed experience at this level and Sadhil, Craig Andersen and Jack bowled well. The final two wickets were a run out by Kash off Suresh’s bowling, and Jack finally wrapped up the innings clean bowling their number eleven off only his third ball. Pick of the bowlers were skipper Anwar with 4 for 6 runs, Sushil 2 for 8 runs and Kashif 2 for 23 runs from 6 overs each.

A great team effort from everyone involved, with contributions from everyone. It’s always good to get off to a winning start, and hopefully this will be the first of many to come, but if the 2s can continue working hard and playing positive cricket for the rest of the season, who knows what they can achieve this year. There will arguably be harder games to come but it was great to see the team working well together, and the juniors adding to their experience. Next up for the 2s are Melrose at home next weekend, weather permitting.

 

Livingston2nd XIv Dunfermline & Carnegie IIDate:2015-04-25
Type of MatchLeague Division 6at McKane Park
Livingston112 for 7 (30.0 overs)Dunfermline & Carnegie II72 all out (28.3 overs)
Result:Livingston win by 40 runs

 

Innings Of:Livingston
 Batsman How OutBowlerRuns4s6s
1S BalasubramanianlbwH Shahzad61 
2K Khalidrun out 244 
3N Jarvisct C HillC Hill1621
4F AnwarlbwA Cameron1311
5SK JindallbwA Cameron0  
6M GraybowledC Hill13  
7A GhaffarlbwJ Honeyford4  
8J Jarvisnot out 19  
9G Youngnot out 1  
10S Jindaldnb    
11C Andersondnb    
   Extras16  
Total  112 for 7

 

 Bowler OversMdnsRunsWktsWdsNBsAvgEcon 
1H Shahzad6.002610026.004.33 
2G Phillip6.0131000 ~ 5.17 
3C Hill6.022220011.003.67 
4A Cameron3.0162003.002.00 
5N Walker4.015000 ~ 1.25 
6J Honeyford5.011810018.003.60 

 

Fall of Wickets
 12345678910 
Score213465656581108    
Bat Out1243576    

 

Innings Of:Dunfermline & Carnegie II
 Batsman How OutBowlerRuns4s6s
1H ShahzadbowledK Khalid23  
2G PhilliplbwSK Jindal0  
3J ParsonagebowledF Anwar6  
4C Lee Edwardsst G YoungSK Jindal0  
5C Hillct N JarvisK Khalid1  
6S WetherspoonbowledF Anwar0  
7C Reidct K KhalidF Anwar0  
8N WalkerbowledF Anwar6  
9D Walleynot out 20  
10J Honeyfordrun out 2  
11A CameronbowledJ Jarvis0  
   Extras14  
Total  72 all out

 

 Bowler OversMdnsRunsWktsWdsNBsAvgEcon 
1K Khalid6.022320011.503.83 
2SK Jindal6.0182304.001.33 
3F Anwar6.0264001.501.00 
4N Jarvis2.009020 ~ 4.50 
5S Jindal4.0111010 ~ 2.75 
6S Balasubramanian2.005010 ~ 2.50 
7C Anderson2.014020 ~ 2.00 
8J Jarvis0.3011001.002.00 

 

Fall of Wickets
 12345678910 
Score15293131363838466872 
Bat Out0000000000 

Last Updated on Saturday, 02 May 2015 11:46