Alvis end WCL 3s unbeaten run

The WCL 3s travelled to Coventry to play Alvis in a 2nd v 3rd clash. The home team's only defeat so far was to current leaders Standard so we knew we were in for a tough game. Alvis won the toss and decided to put us in on a pitch that included some interestingly placed weeds for the bowlers to aim at!

Will Bicknell and Armaan Badesha opened the batting and we quickly saw the size of the task ahead as opener Gagandeep Singh bowled a good pace and line. Interestingly, they opened with a spinner from the other end which was much to Will's liking as he carved the second ball for four and was then the beneficiary of some poor fielding when after running two the returning ball was thrown straight past the keeper for four more!

We soon saw why the spinner had opened when Nazaquat Hussain arrived late and promptly took the next over! In a strong bowling line up he was probably their standout, bowling 8 overs 3-12 before losing his line in his last over. He removed Armaan in his next over and tied down both Will and next batsman Waseem Akram with tight deliveries (18-1).

Will and Waseem consolidated and got us up to 44 before Will was Hussain's second victim after an expansive 34 that included several of his trademark hits over extra cover to the boundary. Unfortunately, Hussain claimed Waseem as his third victim and it was swiftly down hill from then on. A mix up saw Edward Allberry run out and a mis-timed shot by Usman Yasin saw him caught 71-5.

Mohammed Salam played some nice shots before becoming the first victim of 5th bowler Ejaz Ahmadzai. Yours truly, Neil Thorne, was telling the waiting batsmen to use up the overs and see of the current bowlers as there was likely to be a weaker bowler needed to make up the overs. Well, what do I know! Ejaz proceeded to remove Johnny Blake, Steve Shale and Thorney and Muhammad Usman was pinned LBW in a calypso collapso and 78 all out leaving Tom Matthews at the crease and the last four batsmen all with ducks. Ejaz finished with figures of 8 overs, 5 maidens and 4 wickets for 4 runs.

In reply Alvis soon showed they weren't going to hang around although to be fair it was with clean hitting rather than slogging. We got one wicket when Johnny Blake took his first catch in senior league cricket off Thorney. After that though, whoever came on to bowl got some tap and Alvis got home in the 14th over.

A convincing win for a new team that should be playing in a higher division. They bowled as well as any side we've seen this year and didn't give us anything when batting outside of the one catch taken.

Next week we are back at Meriden for the visit of Berkswell from just down the road!

Scorecard

Anthony Collins Solicitors Player of the match: Will Bicknell - 34 runs and saved many runs sweeping on the boundary.