Top spot for Scintilla after top of the table win

Emdad Rahman

A top of the table fixture in the Essex County Cricket League Division One clash between the top two sides ended in a close climax at Goodmayes Park. The low scoring thriller saw Scintilla Cricket Club edge a win over Neo Cricket Club by just twelve runs.

Scintilla won the toss and elected to bat on a poor pitch which didn’t disappoint. Altaf Bhat and MJ Hasan top scored with 25 and 29 runs respectively, as Scintilla were all bowled out for a low 126 after 24.5 overs. Neo pacer Azhar Rabby was the pick of the attack with four wickets.

Scintilla were quick off the firing block after tea, and Bilal Khan was up and running to take the scalps of openers Darshan Patel and Irteza Saqib for three runs and wicket keeper Wahidul Alam for a duck.

It was decisive, and even though there were useful knocks from Javed Hossain, Showan Mitra, Md Din Islam and Nurul Ripon it was not enough as Scintilla finished a close and tense game as victors over Shaha Riadh’s men.

Khan was joined by Muhammad Chaudhary, who took three more, including the match-winning wicket of Neo captain Ripon. Two wickets fell to Younus Ali and a single wicket fell to each of Rifat Mahmud and captain Ishaq Shawn.

After seven games played, Scintilla are unbeaten and lead the Essex County Cricket League Division One table.

Captain Ishaq Shawn commented, “It wasn’t an easy game against a great side but what served us well was sticking to our game plans and continuing to focus on doing the basics well. There is a lot of cricket to play and there are some excellent sides in this Division. We will not be complacent and continue to afford the respect each opponent deserves.”

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