Emdad Rahman
Scintilla CC won the bragging rights as the seconds demolished Barking CC in a much anticipated local derby. Both Barking & Dagenham teams faced off in the heat of the London Marathon Playing Fields.
Scintilla won the toss and captain Shaha Riadh opted to bat first. In the sweltering conditions and with players from both sides fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Scintilla knocked up a highly impressive total of 342 from 43 overs. The star man was Syed Iftekhar, who thundered 115 runs from 98 balls. Zahied Hossain struck a glorious 82 from 61 balls, with Yasin Arafat adding 31 from 26 and Iftekhar Muntakim a further 24 from 18 balls. Faraz of Barking CC took 4 wickets from 9 overs.
With a mammoth catch up task ahead, Barking CC made a sluggish start and were all duly out for 77 runs in 15.2 overs. Rifat Mahmud was in irresistible form as the Scintilla paceman took 3 wickets for 26 (7 overs).
Man of the Match Syed Iftekhar said: “We take each game with a professional approach but there was added spice today as we were playing our rivals. Personally it’s very satisfying to have scored a century. It’s the pinnacle for any batsman. I’d like to thank the team for all their support throughout and I hope we can all enjoy more days like this.”
Captain Shaha Riadh added: “It was a glorious day for cricket and we didn’t want to be wilting in the heat whilst fielding so I took the decision for my team to bat first. Our batsmen were on top form and thankfully the decision paid off. It was extra satisfying to defeat our illustrious neighbours.”
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•The Scintilla first team also played, and they made hard work of beating Hawks CC at the Jubilee Sports Ground. Hawks batted first and reached 206 all out from 44.2 overs. Allen scored 38 and Samuel 34. Nobel continued his good form streak with 2/22. Tutul took 2/38, Ayaz 1/27, Sajal 2/38 and Walid 3/21.
Despite a mid-order slump Scintilla had enough in the tank to defeat their dogged opponents who scored 207/9 from 34.2 overs.
The returning Ashraful Jony top scored with 44, Ahmad Norharif notched 21, Hanif 35, man of the match Giasuddin Tutul 33, and Nobel, 26. For Hawks Allen took 4/38.
Seniors captain Ayaz Karim said: “Temperatures were rising on and off the pitch and for a period we were on shaky ground. The resolve and confidence of the boys held and this was exemplified by vice captain Sajal Rahman’s back to back boundaries when we were on the tenth wicket. It’s been a satisfying day.”