SINGH STARS FOR SAINTS
A BLISTERING 88-ball 89 from Tajinder Singh headlined Guild-St Mary’s return to the winners’ list, as the Saints dealt out a 172-run defeat to Newcomb & District at
Grinter Reserve.
Chosen as the GCA3 grand final venue, Guild-St Mary’s was desperate for match-day experience at the Coppards Rd ground, although it was the Dinos’ hastily assembled ensemble who looked set to orchestrate a massive boilover early.
The hosts reduced the Saints to a precarious 4-17, before the visitors’ batting depth was unveiled in striking 8-272.
Singh was central to the revival, attacking the bowling from the outset in an innings punctuated by 12 boundaries and a six.
“That’s his style, he’s always aggressive,” delighted stand-in skipper Amrit Sahi said postgame. “The wicket was quite tough at the start with some balls keeping a bit low, but we knew that we have a long batting line-up, so we still felt comfortable.
“We haven’t been in that situation before, so it was
GUILD-ST MARY’S 8-272 NEWCOMB & DIST 100
important that we showed that we could come back.”
Gurbir Randhawa (43 not out) and Charul Patel (37) contributed to the rearguard action, while Stuart Keys (3-47) and Andrew Webb (3-46) were the Dinos’ best with the ball.
Webb (38) and Anthony Quarrell (19) contributed to the host reaching 2-80 in response before Tom Kent (4-14), Grant Stripling (2-11) and Justin Larkins (2-0) ran amok with Newcomb & District dismissed for only 100.
“When we knew we were defending 272 it was always going to be hard for them to chase, so we just stuck to the basics,” Sahi said. “Because we lost our last game, it was important to show that we could come back to have some momentum going into the semi-final and hopefully final.”
The Saints are expected to have Amrit Chhina and
Anand Choudhary back for next week’s semi-final.