Saturday 4th June 2011 vs Northfields C.C.
 
The Coyle and White show
 
Northfields C.C. 179 for 7 (40 overs)
Washington C.C. 180 for 8 (36.3 overs)
 

Peter Kloss reporting.

On a glorious sunny day in west London the Wash achieved a remarkable victory away to Northfields. The stars of the show were Stephen Coyle, taking 4 wickets with the ball and Brian White, scoring a superb 120 not out to win the game.
This was the Northfields ground where last season two Washington batsmen ended up in hospital after being hit in the head by rising balls. This was certainly one of the points on stand-in skipper Peter Kloss’s mind when he won the toss and elected to bowl, despite the pitch looking a good one.
Things started slowly for Northfields against the accurate bowling of particularly Luke Mitchell (0-27), and Peter Kloss (2-36). After 10 overs they had progressed to only 16 for 2, Kloss having taken the 2 wickets, both bowled. The pressure continued as Mitchell made way for Stephen Coyle (4-13) who bowled a brilliant spell of medium pace. Coyle was consistent in line and length, nagging away outside the off stump, but also getting significant lift from the pitch to cause the Northfields batsmen problems. It was no accident that 3 of his 4 wickets were catches, 2 in the outfield. One of these was an excellent effort by Gary Malcolm at square leg. By the time Coyle had completed his 8 overs Northfields were reduced to 65 for 6 and the Wash were talking about bowling them all out for less than 100.
Russell Pendry (0-38) and Gary Malcolm (0-25) had held up the other end admirably but were not able to add to the tally of wickets. Amit Arora (1-30) came on and had an immediate breakthrough. However this then brought the no. 9 Northfields batsman Richard to the crease. He made an immediate impact, hitting his first 3 balls for 6! The Wash bowlers had no response for a few overs as he continued to dominate the attack, increasing the scoring rate dramatically – thoughts of a total below 100 had evaporated. Kloss brought Mitchell back for a couple of overs and then tried himself, but Richard continued to hit boundaries with alarming regularity.
The Wash bowlers did learn that pitching the ball either short, or right up in the block-hole did contain the hits significantly, but at the end of the 40th over Northfields had raced up to 179 with no more wickets taken. This total had not seemed possible 15 overs esrlier.
After a good tea David Gluckman and Nassar Ahmad opened up batting for the Wash. Gluckman was unfortunately bowled first ball and after a bye was taken Ahmad also went for a duck in the first over, looping a catch to slip from a rising ball. The Wash were 1 for 2.
This then brought Brian White to the crease who immediately took charge and scored freely, hitting several early 4s through the slip/gully region. He had a little bit of luck in those early overs, but was also timing the ball sweetly in front of the wicket. The bowling did not present a major challenge to him.
At the other end it was a different story and batsmen came and went with regularity. However some partnerships did develop for a few overs at a time, although the lion’s share of the runs were always scored by White. Mohammad Amin (2), Devesh Dutt (7) and Stephen Coyle (16) all provided support, with Coyle playing a little cameo of his own with a couple of boundaries.
By this point the score had progressed to 100 for 7 after 20 overs. The run rate required was not a problem, but only 3 wickets remained. Commendably the next two batsmen, Gary Malcolm (5) and particularly Luke Mitchell (13*), took on the responsibility well and saw the Wash home. White scored most of the runs, but that was fine, he just needed others to concentrate and stay there at the other end. The final unbroken partnership was 53, White getting to within a couple of runs of victory with a massive 6 over long on. He finished on 120 not out, a total covering two thirds of the runs scored in the innings – remarkable.
White said after the game “it wasn’t that tough and the bowling wasn’t too difficult. I just needed to concentrate and keep going. I always knew that if we weren’t bowled out in the 40 overs we would win. Thanks to the guys who hung around and supported at the other end”.
Man of the Match: a close thing between Brian and Stephen, but Brian gets it by a short head
Packing the kit: a few ducks available, not least the skipper’s...

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Batting
Player Runs How out
David Gluckman 0 Bowled
Nassar Ahmad 0 Caught
Mohammed Amin 2 LBW
Brian White 120* 
Devesh Dutt 7 Bowled
Amit Arora 2 LBW
Stephen Coyle 16 Bowled
Peter Kloss 0 Bowled
Gary Malcolm 5 Caught
Luke Mitchell 13* 
Did Not Bat
Russell Pendry
Partnerships
Wkt Runs Batsmen
1 0 David Gluckman  &  Nassar Ahmad
2 1 Nassar Ahmad  &  Mohammed Amin
3 25 Mohammed Amin  &  Brian White
4 35 Brian White  &  Devesh Dutt
5 4 Brian White  &  Amit Arora
6 30 Brian White  &  Stephen Coyle
7 5 Brian White  &  Peter Kloss
8 27 Brian White  &  Gary Malcolm
9 53 * Brian White  &  Luke Mitchell



Fielding
Player Cts Wkt Cts Stmps
Peter Kloss 1 - -
Gary Malcolm 1 - -
Brian White - 1 -
Bowling
Player Overs Mdns Runs Wkts
Russell Pendry 5.0 0 38 0
Peter Kloss 8.0 1 36 2
Gary Malcolm 4.0 0 25 0
Stephen Coyle 8.0 2 13 4
Luke Mitchell 8.0 2 27 0
Amit Arora 7.0 1 30 1
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