ROW outclassed by India in Inter-Club fixture

The Rest of the World were truly outclassed by India in the third ever Inter-Club fixture between the two sides at Canons High School on Saturday.

Electing to bowl first, ROW started well and took the early wickets of Jeet Swaminarayan and Nick Kothari who fell to Tushyam Sonecha and Dean Veerapen respectively. However, that would be as good as it got for ROW who then struggled for consistency with the ball and in the field as India racked up an imperious 219-2 off 35 overs on what was a difficult ground to score with long grass across the outfield. Shuraj Vekaria once again showed his love for this fixture as he recorded yet another inter club 50 and he was joined by Abrar Mohammed (51*) and Prashant Pindolia (50*), the latter completing his half century off just 27 deliveries, including 5 sixes.

At the halfway mark, ROW knew they had an uphill task to chase down 220 for their first ever win but it started well as Kashyap Varsani dispatched Jaimin Patel for 2 sixes in the first over to give ROW the perfect start. Despite losing Ciaran Hosty for 3, ROW consolidated through Vidanda Galgamuwa (30) and Kashyap Varsani (41) who drove the score to 69-1 and well ahead of the required rate. However, the loss of Vidanda Galgamuwa would be the first domino to fall as ROW then collapsed from 101-3 to 102-7. Some late hitting from Kabee Tharmaratnam gave ROW a glimmer of hope, however once he departed for a swashbuckling 21 off 9 deliveries, it was curtains. With the ball, Prashant Pindolia backed up his rapid fifty with a 3-13 to complete a man of the match performance and increase his own stock ahead of the upcoming season, whilst Shuraj Vekaria picked up the final wicket of Luke Molloy as Vinay Acharya held onto the outside edge.

Some great performances this weekend by all involved and the squad is looking in good spirits as we head into the first pre-season fixture against Cockfosters on Sunday.