Camden I v Cam Kerala III

02/08/25

FAR FROM PITCH PERFECT

Thirds drubbed by league leaders

Cam Kerala III (20pts) 153 beat Camden (6pts) 57 by 96 runs

With the calendar rolling over into August, the Thirds found themselves second in Junior 3 West. July had concluded with the NCI match being rained off and St Giles being defeated by 48 runs. That match had seen Captain Redfern mark the occasion of his 200th Thirds appearance by going past 4000 runs, but the skipper was away in deepest darkest Scotland for the trip to Trinity Hall to face table-topping Cam Kerala. Sutton, back – but not recovered – from his finger injury, had the honour of leading the troops. Not for the first time, the stand-in skipper was furnished with ten men, but he had at least persuaded Fox-Teece and Batley to play. For Hugo, it was a chance to score a fifth consecutive half century. With Sutton opting to bowl first, the Batman would have to wait for his tilt at history. It soon became apparent, however, that he couldn’t have chosen a worse pitch on which to try and achieve such a feat.

 The Cam Kerala opening batsmen had shown in the reverse fixture that they were not afraid to chance their arms. Here, on their home patch, they were risking life and limb. But it was equally effective, with anything pitched up being a chance to swing for the trees. The home side had raced to 34 in the fifth over when Irtaza, keeping wicket, held on to an edge from a lifting Farid delivery. The other opener followed in the next over, LBW to Subbu for a brutal 32 from 18 balls. Things proceeded at a more sedate rate, thereafter. The third wicket put on 40, before Mukesh (1-22) – thanks to Krishna’s excellent catch – and Karan struck to leave the score on 87-4 at the twenty over mark. Karan (2-22) bagged another wicket, and Sutton tested out his dodgy digit with a catch off Ketul. At 105-6, the skipper might have been hoping to wrap things up quickly. Cam Kerala had other ideas, however, with a seventh-wicket stand of 33. Farid (2-27) and Subbu (2-44) returned to back up Ketul (3-29) in wrapping up the innings on 153. On a spiteful pitch, it was a more than useful score.

The previous week’s win against St Giles had featured a 29-ball duck from Mitchell. That was ten more deliveries than any Camden batsman would face here. Fox-Teece and Krishna had put on 108 the last time they opened. They could only manage 10 here, with Krishna falling for 4. Foxy (9) didn’t fare much better, and Batley fell 43 short of setting his record. 25-3 wasn’t ideal, but there was hope while Irtaza and Ketul were at the crease. The previous week had seen the pair post scores of 61 and 48. But that was then. This was now, and an eleventh over which began with Irtaza hitting a sweetly-struck six. An over which ended with Irtaza being caught for 15. An over which also included the wicket of Ketul (4) and a first-baller for Sutton. All of which meant that the Thirds had subsided to 42-6. Subbu (0), Karan (1) and Mukesh (0) followed, and only Farid (14*) showed some resistance. 57 all out.

Man of the Match: No award