Sunbury CC Development XI vs Mayor Toronto's XI, 19th July 2012

Under grey skies and confronted with a damp, green wicket, Toronto’s captain Dixit had no hesitation in inserting Sunbury when he won the toss. Sunbury’s two opening batsmen, Garvey and Mahajan, survived the first four overs before Mahajan was caught off the bowling of Kalsi (1-19 from six overs) for seven. Although looking in good touch, Sunbury’s number three Burgess perished soon after to Vishal (1-13 from 6 overs) for four. 

The introduction of Dhruv turned the match firmly in the favour of the Toronto XI: the off-spinner’s figures of seven overs, 6-23 tore through Sunbury’s middle order. The highlight of this was the removal of opener Garvey, bowled through the gate with a flighted, turning delivery for twelve. The bowlers were more than backed up in the field, especially the outfield, which culminated in the very good run-out of Rhythm Bedi. Michael Smith’s excellent 29, a mixture of exuberant attack and stoical defence, and some lusty blows from Ishi Sohi and Saran Kalsi, meant that Sunbury scraped to a below-par 105 all out off 27 overs.

After an excellent lunch, kindly sponsored by CIMA, the Toronto opening pair of Dixit and Dhruv made a very positive start. The opening bowlers, Kalsi and Sohi, hit back removing both batsmen. The tourists were still in a dominant position after ten overs despite the set-back: the score read 47-2, 24 of which came off the bat of Dhruv. In a similar pattern to the first innings, spin halted the progression of the Toronto innings. 

The left-arm spin of Haroon Aslem (3-11 from seven overs) and the off-cutters of Matt Nichols (2-17 from six overs) kept Sunbury in contention. After 21 overs the Toronto XI were 74-7. The pair of Dhruv (9) and Abdullah (13) took the tourists to 93-7 with three overs remaining. However, some excellent death bowling from Sam Burgess (1-13 from three overs) and Steve Smith left the Toronto XI needing six off the final over, bowled by Smith.

A scampered single and a miss-field meant that three were required off two balls. However, Smith bowled number 10 Vishal with a good ball to end with figures of 2-4 off three overs, meaning that Sunbury won a very tight and enjoyable game by two runs.