… Sabina claim South London title

MALTEENOES Sports Club all-rounder Kellon Carmichael two weekends ago, struck back-to-back half-centuries for Hadleigh and Thundersley and Sabina Cricket Club respectively in England, powering the latter closer to the South London Sunday League Division One title.Last Sunday, Sabina played Blackheath Cricket Club of Kent in their final round match knowing very well that a win will certainly hand them the title and with Carmichael churning out another impressive performance with both bat and ball, they came away with a seven-wicket win and the title in the process.
Playing for HTCC on August 30 against Southend EMT Cricket Club at Southchurch Park, HTCC were asked to take first strike by their opponents, in which they scored 303 for 7 off their 50 overs.
This was due mainly to Adam Soilleux’s 119 scored off 110 balls with 10 fours and five sixes, 66 from Carmichael (57 balls, 6×4, 2×6), 35 from Paul Tibbenham and 25 from Richard Revell, with Carmichael and Soilleux adding 129 for the fourth wicket.
This was after HTCC had lost Oliver Smith (21), Tibbenham and Michael Lewis 915), to be 129 for 3, while Revell added 42 for the sixth wicket with Darius Vapiwala (16), following the demise of both Soilleux and Carmichael.
Joe Robbins took 4 for 86 for Southend EMT Cricket Club, who in reply were limited to 271 for 7 off their allotted overs, despite 93 from Sam Rowe (5×4, 2×6) and 81 from Oliver Wagstaff that was decorated with 11 fours and two sixes, with the duo adding 110 for the third wicket.
Carmichael took 2 for 52 from his 12 overs, while there was a wicket each for Adam Dobson, Lewis and Revell, as HTCC, with the win, finished the Essex County League 1st XI Division One tournament in third position.
The following day, Carmichael, as he has been doing during his sojourn in England, turned out for Sabina in their penultimate round match against EKTA Cricket Club at the Sydenham High School ground, where they (Sabina) won the toss and opted to bat first.
With Carmichael’s topscore of 62 (6×6, 2×4) before he was the last man out, and backed by 44 from Everton Blackwood, 36 from Richard Deer and 29 from wicketkeeper Sean Grant, Sabina posted 254 all out off 38 overs.
Mudit Dayal claimed 5 for 79 and Mushafiq Punjbe 2 for 49 for EKTA Cricket Club, who in reply were dismissed for 103 in 29 overs, with only Kaushal Ghutwalewala (25) and Romesh Solanki 17 offering resistance to Sabina bowlers who were led by Blackwood, Alex Lorimer and Sherman Goodman who took two wickets each for 16, 23 and 28 runs respectively.
With one hand on the title, Sabina faced Blackheath this past Sunday and saw their opponents win the toss and opt to bat first, which turned out to be a huge mistake as they were bowled out for 113 off 31 overs, thanks to Carmichael’s 6 for 20 and Sherman Goodman’s 3 for 31.
Goodman started the slide for Blackheath, by removing Dalip Bharadwaj (12), Sandeep Manku (11) and the number three batsman without scoring, before skipper Dipayan Paul who topscored with 40 and Mahi Mahfuzul (36) added 76 for the fourth wicket.
The introduction of Carmichael saw the demise of Paul who was lbw to the right-hand medium fast bowler, while Carlos Lopez (1 for 11) accounted for Mahfuzul, following which Carmichael removed the last five batsmen, four of whom failed to trouble the scorers.
In their reply, Sabina raced to 119 for 3 from 18.1 overs, even though they lost Grant without scoring in the first over. Lorimer top-scored with 34, backed by an unbeaten 33 from Omesh Wijesiriwardena, 23 from Lawrence Farnum and an unbeaten 19 from Carmichael, to earn for themselves the South London Sunday League Division One title.
(By Calvin Roberts)