Scorecard

Hemel Hempstead V v Radlett CC 5th XI on Sat 24 Jul 2010 at 1.00
Radlett CC Won by 79 runs

Match report Mike Dexter almost 'shot his age' in Radlett V's 79-run win over Hemel Hempstead V at Woodside. To upper order batsmen such as Riki Shah, Lee Greenland and Johnny Armitage, all 16, this might not seem much of an achievement -- and indeed Johnny has managed it at least once this season -- but Dexter is a pensioner and scored an undefeated 67.

The venerable Dexter, drafted in as a late call-up, dug Radlett out of a hole in partnership with Arif Rahman. A gloomy 19 for four was turned into an early declaration at 222 for seven and a handsome Division 11 victory, though there were only 10 balls to spare.

Radlett moved up to seventh in the table, chasing the promotion contenders. This win was expected as rock-bottom Hemel were a callow side who had lost 10 of their 11 completed games, but they made Radlett toil when their last pair held out for 11 overs until Rahman plunged at third slip to hold an outside edge, with Shah the delighted bowler.

Hemel inserted Charlie Randall's men on a bone-dry pitch with steep bounce and very short downhill midwicket boundary. The bounce seemed to unsettle the early batsmen when Tom Clare snicked a cut in the first over and Ender Tahsin edged a good ball to second slip next over, with no runs on the board. Shah and Armitage soon followed so that Rahman and Dexter had to repair some heavy damage.

Rahman let fly at anything pitched up -- 13 fours in his 66 -- and Dexter used the pace of the ball in a fifth-wicket stand of 111. Greenland and Dexter then rushed the score from 130 to 201, and the declaration followed after 42 overs.

Hemel, left 48 overs in reply, did not have the strength to mount a credible chase and lost wickets regularly while catches were dropped regularly. Radlett's front-line attack of Pete Wharton and Rob Millard proved too good, though wickets became hard later to take as the batsmen dug in for a draw. Three quick wickets from Randall's left-arm spin changed the picture again until the defiant last-wicket stand threatened to snatch an unlikely draw.

Though in the end this sixth win was well deserved, the batting faults remained all too obvious. Few batsmen seem prepared to test the conditions before launching strokes that might work on the home strip at Queens School Bushey but are not necessarily appropriate elsewhere. Relying on dropped catches by opposition fielders to make runs is not a good idea for sensible, self-respecting batsmen.


Radlett CC 5th XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 7 wickets
0
222
(0.0 overs)		    
Tom Clare Caught  0
Ender Tahsin Caught  0 1
Rikin Shah Caught  4 1
John Armitage Caught  12
Arif Rahman Bowled  66 2
Mike Dexter Not Out  67
Lee Greenland Caught  42 2
Robert Millard Lbw  5
Charles Randall Not Out  0
Shabbir Foyez   1
Pete Wharton  

Hemel Hempstead V Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Hemel Hempstead V Batting
Player name Runs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
143 (0.0 overs)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Radlett CC 5th XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Pete Wharton13.0341220.503.15
Robert Millard11.0330310.002.73
Arif Rahman5.01900.001.80
Rikin Shah 6.2117117.002.68
Charles Randall9.042438.002.67
John Armitage2.0022122.0011.00
Tom Clare0.00000.000.00