Vale hails Alex the great
CHESS VALLEY LEAGUE DIVISION TWO ICKENHAM 206-5
LONDON MACCABI VALE 207-3
LMV WON BY 7 WICKETS
CRICKET ALEX Haffner guided London Maccabi Vale to a resounding victory in their Chess Valley League opener against Ickenham. Steven Allweis set the tone early on, bowling the home side’s opening batsman with the first ball of the match, and the hosts were two down just three deliveries later thanks to a brilliant run out by Jonny Gould.
Teenagers Jack Davis (1-38) and Rayno Greenwall-Cohen bowled impressively in tandem to tighten Vale’s grip, before spinners Benjamin Lederman and Adam Brand rattled through the overs to keep the pressure on the hosts.
Lederman (1-35) claimed a wicket to establish LMV’s position of dominance, whilst Brand’s match was cut short after he suffered a dislocated finger.
Vale recovered strongly from that blow, with Allweis taking another wicket in the closing overs to restrict Ickenham to just 206 from their allotted 45 overs.
With small boundaries on three sides of the ground, LMV would have fancied their chances at the interval – and despite the losses of Brand and Gould to injuries, they started strongly.
Ben Kohler (25) played elegantly with shots all around the ground before he was dismissed, but his wicket served only to welcome the powerful Lederman to the crease to join Haffner.
Lederman (60) continued his rich vein of form by striking Ickenham’s bowlers to all parts and placing Vale firmly in control.
Batting at four, Jon Galloway (18) then helped to guide Vale to the finish line. All this time, Haffner, who finished unbeaten on 77, had been busy at the other end, playing the anchor role and making sure he was there to see LMV home.
With a series of delicate late cuts and measured clips through mid-wicket, he took the sting out of the Ickenham attack and it was fitting that he struck the winning runs to seal LMV’s victory with almost 13 overs to spare.