Sporting Alfas CC host Barcelona International CC
Under the Barcelona International Cricket Club 2023 Tour umbrella, they met Sporting Alfas at the Woodbridge Oval in Alfàs del Pi, Marina Baixa, Alicante.
The clubs played two games on the newly installed artificial turf pitch. In the first game, Barcelona were offered the toss and captain Umer decided to bowl.
The Alfas innings were well anchored, with the opening partnership between Crompton and Brown bringing the home side’s score to 39 before Crompton was fired by Ringer Pandian.
Coming in in 3rd place, Spain captain Muñoz suffered a somewhat shaky start, getting dropped twice in the early double figures and hit in the shoulder by Pandian.
Simon Eldridge took two wickets in two balls but failed to complete his hat-trick early on his next over. BICC paid the price for those drops as Muñoz opened with plenty of big hits and finished on a quick 108 before retiring alongside Captain Pinnick (23*) to give the lower tier a 201-score a chance.
BICC bowling was mostly good with little extras. Sam Phillips had a decent opening spell at 13-0 after 4 overs and held the ball up well.
Simon with those 2 wickets for 24 off-spin. Tom (1/26), Pandian (1/38) and Suraj opted to take advantage of the brisk wicket.
Leandro’s new medium-paced bowling posed a few questions for the batsmen, with Umer and Hesh each taking a wicket.
A plethora of catches were dropped which was the biggest disappointment for the visitors, especially given that Muñoz scored another 80 points after his first drop!
BICC innings openers Pandian (40) and Bill Brooks (19) started cautiously against close bowling from Walker and Malik.
Shane Lightley chiseled 34 anchors from number 3, with top scorer Captain Umer trying 52 of 32 deliveries to do his best to beat run-rate.
With 50 needed from the last 4 overs, it was asking too much. Steady bowling and good fielding, including a great catch at depth by Captain Pennick, were enough to help Sporting Alfas win. BICC landed at 174/3.
Wickets for Alfas, with all three going to their first change pitchers from Morris (28/02) and Braithwaite (22/01).
Pork Pies!
In the 2nd game over 20 overs, BICC decided to bat. Tom opened the hitting with a Rapid Fire 3 before getting caught.
Shubh Deb was joined by No. 3 Umer who took the score to 80 after the opening 10 overs, both finishing with half a century and delivering the most BICC runs. Shubh tops 50 and Umer is sacked in the penultimate over.
The third top scorers were Suraj and James. Extras brought BICC to a modest 137 total.
Only five bowlers were fielded by Alfas, Aitor on 2/37 with a pick from bowler Perman on 2/18 from four overs.
Another fine lunch was served during the innings break, including pork pies!
Sporting Alfas started their task with a good straight bowling from BICC, resulting in most of the top order going to LBW. Some resistance came from Pernham (15), who was bowled by Sam after failing to pick up his off-cutter, the BICC attack’s pick ended 2-11. Pandian and Suraj also picked up wickets and Simon maintained good economy despite a failing knee.
The backbone of the Alfas innings was not out Crompton, who sped up his innings nicely and finished on 54, with Malik and Tyler helping to keep the score moving. BICC got their first win of the year.
