Emdad Rahman
A CONTROVERSIAL umpiring decision from Valli Patel was telling in a tense yet exciting Barking & Dagenham derby as Barking Cricket Club took the honours and completed the double over their local rivals.
Barking had won the toss and batted first, with star man Pulkit Gupta striking 46 before being dismissed by Ishaq Shawn. Imran Butt scored 21 as Barking were all out for 192.
On a batting pitch, Scintilla fared no better as the top order was reduced to 43 runs. Junaed Rahman Tanin and Sajal Rahman then steadied the ship with 36 and 14 respectively, before Rashid Bashiri struck a confidence boosting 40 runs. Tail enders Rashid Bashiri and Hanif Kibria performed heroics with Bashiris’s entrance leaving Scintilla with 24 runs required to win.
Both Kibria and Bashiri scored 22 from their last wicket partnership, and with Scintilla needing only 2 runs to win the ball struck Kibria’s pad. With the ball deemed to be missing the leg stump, a half hearted appeal from Barking saw controversial umpire Patel give Kibria out. It was poignant that Patel didn’t even collect his match fee from each team as per custom and left the ground in haste.
•In the clash of the second teams at Fairlop Oak playing field, Scintilla crushed Barking CC by 5 wickets as Qasim Patel took 2 wickets and scored 43 runs. Rifat Mahmud (3), Adil Ijaz (2), Din Islam and Syed Iftekhar one apiece took the remaining wickets as Barking were bowled all out for 131.
•Read more about it: Tanin stars as table toppers Scintilla beat Old Parkonians Hawks in a fluttler as Scintilla run amok
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