Maccabi National Cup Preliminary Round
Barnet 161 Richard Carlowe 32, Richard Berman 30, Danny Myers 4-16
Chigwell 162-8 Stuart Kaye 30
Chigwell won by 2 wickets
Chigwell & Hainault set up a clash against against London Maccabi Vale 2nd after beating Barnet Synagogue by two wickets with five balls to spare.
In cloudy, muggy conditions, Chigwell & Hainault captain Danny Myers lost his third consecutive toss and was asked to field first against match in the replayed Maccabi National Cup qualifier round tie.
Alex Katseph (1-33) got Chigwell off to a positive start with some aggressive and intelligent bowling, picking up an important early wicket with a slower ball.
In the first of many father and son combinations in the match, Nigel Katseph (2-28) kept things tidy at the other end picking up the wicket of Barnet’s danger man John Lishak, who had hit a big score in the rained off fixture earlier in the season. Another of Barnet’s main men, Weber, was removed cheaply by the tricky leg spin of Michael Myers.
Due to some lack of discipline, 47 extras were conceded in the whole innings, from the Chigwell change bowlers and some impressive hitting from the Barnet batsmen Richard Carlowe (32) and Richard Berman (28) especially, Barnet looked like they were in target of setting a challenging score of 180+ until the introduction of Kevin Sinclair (2-14) and Danny Myers (4-16) changed the momentum of the game.
Some tidy catches, including a quick reflex catch by Michael Myers and a running catch from Stuart Kaye helped remove Barnet’s middle and lower order quite cheaply. Myers, bowling with his trademark line and length was particularly impressive.
In reply, Barnet picked up two important wickets in the first four overs of the Chigwell innings with Turek and Pocock playing poor shots to good deliveries.
In-form opener Matt Murray (25) was ably assisted by Stuart Kaye (28) in keeping up with the required run rate without offering too many chances. Their 50-run partnership came to an end when Murray was given out caught behind off Lishak’s left-arm spin.
Kaye soon followed, with Danny and Michael Myers rebuilding the innings again with a 43-run partnership. Myers junior succumbed to a big heave for 16, before his father fell to a well-taken catch for 21, leaving the tie again in the balance.
Could Chigwell get the required 40 runs from the remaining 10 overs? Nigel Katseph and Sinclair also fell cheaply but with 1.4 overs left and two wickets remaining Lloyd Duddridge won the day for Chigwell with a quickfire 21.
A daunting tie against London Maccabi Vale awaits Chigwell in the next round but the squad will be pleased, having completed back-to-back wins following their victory against Mill Hill in the previous week.