Local cricket returned at Springfield Park

Jack Hope (IDLCC) 6 for 34 off 6 overs & Hiru 2 for 15 off 6 overs (Bloomsbury Royals). Hiru scored 58, James Burland scored 59, Luca Bingham scored 26.

On a warm spring afternoon at Springfield Park, in front of a boisterous crowd, I Don’t Like Cricket Club claimed a narrow 3 wicket win over Bloomsbury Royals to bounce back from their defeat on the opening weekend of the season.

After winning the toss and opting to bowl, IDLCC were able to make early inroads, as a fiery opening spell of short pitched bowling from Alex Collins rattled the Bloomsbury batting line-up.

However, after being reduced to 6-2, Bloomsbury were able to recover as Hiru (58) and Suman (16) put on a 50 partnership and threatened to take the game away from IDLCC.

Hiru, in particular, batted well, punishing any width offered by the IDLCC bowlers.

At this point IDLCC decided to introduce some spin into the attack in the form of his own interpretation of the art of leg spin. This initially appeared to be a disastrous decision, as his first legal delivery cost the team 10 runs.

However, recovering from that comic ineptitude, he bounced back next ball to dismiss the obdurate Suman.

Then, having found some rhythm, he went on to dismiss the next 5 Bloomsbury batters in order, as they struggled to pick which way the ball would spin off the wicket, finally finishing with figure of 6-1-34-6.

Eventually Bloomsbury were bowled out for 165, having used only 26.1 of their allotted 40 overs.

In contrast to Bloomsbury Royals, IDLCC took a more slow and steady approach to chasing down the target. Despite losing Rohan Hope for 7 early in the innings, Luca Bingham and James Burland were able to stabilise the innings before Bingham departed for 26 with the score reading 71-2.

A mini collapse ensued, as the next 4 IDLCC batters failed to make double digits, Burland’s presence at the crease meant that IDLCC always felt confident, as he carried them to within 25 runs of the target before falling for a match winning 59.

The final chase could have been nervy, and a further wicket did fall, but captain Jack Hope and fast-bowler Alex Collins finally came together to ensure that the eighth wicket partnership took IDLCC across the line, as they finished on 166-7 to complete a 3 wicket win.

Canary Wharf Royals CC ("CWRCC", "Royals") faced Camel CC ("Camels") on a lovely Saturday afternoon at Millfields in what was their first league match of the season.

The Royals won the toss & chose to bat and started on a cracking note with Chetan hammering 18 runs of the very first over.

The Camels recovered well, but thanks to some immaculate stroke-play by Chetan, the Royals reached 52 in 6 for naught.

The first wicket fell to a seaming ball from Kit who got Chetan caught behind for 39 whose dazzling innings included eight 4s and one 6.

Dhrumil joined Charan in the middle to take the score over the 100 run mark in the 13th over.

Nabil, the wily offie, replaced Sam & got the break-through in his second over.

He had Dhrumil caught in the slips who departed after a well made 28 which included six 4s.

The Royals, however, did not relent, with Charan throwing caution to the wind in the 15th over to score a brilliant and the only half century of the match.

CWRCC looked well set to cross the 300 run mark having scored 202 in 27 overs with 6 wickets in hand.

This also included a gritty 38 by Nipak who played the middle overs and steadied the innings. However, the Camels rallied back brilliantly to take some quick wickets leaving CWRCC on 235 for 8 in 35.

Although Ranjan of CWRCC had different ideas. With a flurry of boundaries in the last couple of overs, he helped take the score to 272 for 9 in 40 and remained unbeaten on 35.

Kit and Nabil were the pick of the bowlers with 3 and 2 wickets respectively.

The Camels started well with 22 for nought in 3 overs, before an unlucky slip on the pitch by Rick and some brilliant fielding by the Royals got Rick run-out.

The Camels were pinned back by some vicious bowling by Vinith and captain Krishna, before Vinit picked up two quick wickets with in-swingers catching the batters leg before wicket.

Matt and Marcus tried to steady the ship before Mr. Magnificent (Mrigank) struck with 3 wickets to leave the Camels tottering at 105 for 7 in 16.

But Nabil stood definitely scoring 47 with some clean hitting and was well supported by David.

Thanks to a devious ball by Udit, who had Nabil completely flummoxed with an in-swinger rattling the timber.

It was before time when Vinith cleaned up the tail ending up with a well-deserved 4 wicket haul. The Camels were all out for 146 in the 27th.

London Fields lost the toss and batted first on a pitch that offered something for the bowlers with some swing (aided by some strong blistering winds at points) and variable bounce, with the ball keeping low.

There was also something for the batsmen, though, with short boundaries in play.

Spin bowler for Pacific (Nick) was highly effective when he was introduced late on, generating big turn both ways.

But very strong performances with the bat kept the scoreboard ticking over at a healthy rate – Vijay Shah (33) and Perry Harding (37) were solid and set the tone early on – the latter in particular was noted for his exquisite timing throughout his knock.

The real coup-de-grace came with the 80 not out of Paul Teasdale, who showed an effortless blend of grit and flair to steer his team through some difficult spells towards reaching a competitive total of 254, putting on a vital 65 last wicket stand with the "ace up the sleeve" Laurie Sawyer coming in at 11 (23 not out). Given the eventual winning margin of 83 runs, this last wicket flurry proved significant.

Phil Clark showed his usual consistency and shrewd economy at only 3 runs / over and claiming 3 important wickets early on.

This from a man playing his first game after serving out a quarantine with his wife and small children in a boxy hotel room for 10 days – impressive stuff.

Rob Cox was introduced late on for his second game with London Fields, taking the lynchpin wicket of Toby Chasseaud while he was getting into his pomp, having made an excellent 54 and showing him to be the pick of Pacific's batting outfit.

Rob also picked up three of the middle order to finish with 4-37 in 4 quick-fire overs.