Unicorns Championship - remarkable win for Herts...
Unicorns Championship,
Lincolnshire v Hertfordshire
Cleethorpes CC, July 20-22
Lincs 290-9 & 98
Herts 151 & 238-9
Herts win by one wicket
Herts headed home from Cleethorpes on Tuesday afternoon celebrating a remarkable win in the the Minor Counties Championship after a stunning last-wicket stand between 19-year-old Letchworth all-rounder Tim Graham, on debut, and 16-year-old Sawbridgeworth left-arm spinner Ben Waring.
It completed an extraordinary three days for a much-changed Hertfordshire team hit badly by non-availability and injury and containing two 16-year-olds in Waring and Potters Bar wicketkeeper batsman Patrick Scott, an 18-year-old in Felsted schoolboy Reece Hussain and two 19-year-olds in Graham and Abhishek Kulkarni, the Stanmore seamer.
It began with the teams turning up at the ground on Sunday to be greeted by the sight of four or five ankle-deep lakes on the outfield after a series of heavy storms. But instead of giving up on the day, both sets of players and coaches and local club members got out the buckets and spent three hours getting rid of the surface water.
Even after that, conditions were still damp when play eventually started shortly before 3pm. It was no surprise when Nesan Jeyaratnam opted to bowl when he won the toss, and when Lincs were 133-6 his decision looked spot on. But a crucial dropped catch gave Anish Patel a chance he made the most of by going on to score 133 as Lincs posted an above-par 290-9 in their 90 overs.
Kulkarni took 2-44 off 19 overs, Graham 3-54 off 17 and Syed Al Kazmi, the left-arm spinner from Stevenage, 3-94 from a marathon spell of 35 overs.
Hertfordshire's reply could scarcely have begun worse, with Dave Lucas, who took 264 first-class wickets for Northants, Notts, Worcs and Yorkshire, taking a hat-trick of Jeyaratnam, Hussain and vice-captain Jamie Southgate of Welwyn Garden City, to have Herts at 15-3. Hamsa Qayyum, the North Mymms all-rounder, made an excellent 51 off 70 balls, but it needed a strong performance from the lower order with Kazmi (20), Scott (30) and Kulkarni (20) digging in to get Herts up to 151 all out.
Lincs were huge favourites at this stage, with a big first-innings lead, and at 70-3 they looked like driving that advantage home.
Jeyaratnam then brought on his two left-arm spinners, Kazmi and Waring, and the game changed direction as rapidly as the ball as Lincs fell apart to be all out for 98. Waring took a brilliant 3-9 off six overs and Kazmi, firing the ball in and looking as if he could find the edge every other ball, a scarcely believable 4-3 off 7.1 overs.
That still left Herts an imposing 238 to win, and although they were batting decently enough they kept losing wickets too regularly and ended the second day on 104-6, looking a long way from victory.
James Latham, from Harpenden, and Graham played excellent cricket, choosing their time to attack, and took the score to 143 before Latham fell for 39, and when Herts then fell to 162-9 the game looked over.
But Waring and Graham refused to give in and gradually the impossible loomed on the horizon. Graham led the way with a superb innings, balancing hard hitting (including a 90 metre six) with obdurate defence. Waring followed Graham's example and Herts finally emerged very happy one-wicket winners. Graham made 78 off 100 balls with five fours and two sixes, while Waring faced 82 balls for his 23.
Hugh Bateson