The last two remaining Jewish cricket clubs – Belmont and Edgware CC (BECC) and London Maccabi Vale (LMV) – played out a hard-fought league clash at Knebworth on Sunday.
Vale 2nd XI captain Jack Davis won the toss and elected to bat, which saw Josh Reynolds and Zack Feingold opening the bowling for BECC 1st XI, both striking early to leave Vale two wickets down for just one run.
Lior Hayman and Sam Feigenbaum rebuilt LMV’s innings, before the former was caught at slip by Aussie Daniel Rabie for 40.
Feigenbaum followed shortly after, bowled by BECC skipper Adam Morris, as did new batsman Harry Brand, who was dismissed by Zak Shipman.
At 75-5, Vale kicked on with Sam Jacobs and Rafi Zackheim playing some lovely strokes all around the wicket. When Jacobs fell for 21, the score sat on 108-6, as BECC brought on leg spinner Jack Mendel, Shipman ending with impressive figures of 3/34.
Mendel struck twice in an over, and in his final over, had both a close LBW shout turned down and a stumping rejected, but took two more wickets, to finish with 4-24.
Vale’s lower-order resistance took them to 176 all out, which on this wicket was probably a little under par.
In reply, BECC lost the early wicket of club stalwart Michael Blasebalk for five, with Zackheim taking a good catch at cover.
The two Dans, Humphrey and Rabie, built a really solid partnership. Opener Rabie was strong square of the wicket, while Humphrey did lots of driving and sweeping, to ensure the run rate ticked over healthily. When Rabie was dismissed for 43, caught by Harry Brand off Zackheim’s bowling, Joshua Chaim joined Humphrey at the wicket.
With the score on 103/2, Humphrey continued to take boundaries off the Vale bowlers, before Chaim had to retire with illness. Guy Shipman replaced him, and BECC continued to build towards the total.
With just 30-odd runs to win, Vale made a few late inroads. Brand bowled Shipman with a terrific yorker, before nicking off new batsman Avi Brayam for a duck.
With Humphrey at the crease, despite wickets falling around him, the innings remained on course for the home side. He and Josh Reynolds upped the rate a little, taking the score to 175/5 when Reynolds was dismissed.
Humphrey was eventually dismissed for a match-winning 72 off 92 balls. Pick of the bowlers for Vale was Harry Brand wit h 3/23 off his six overs.
But Zak Shipman hit the winning runs to secure a four-wicket win, a result that sees BECC up to third place in the North Hertfordshire League division two table.
BECC captain Adam Morris said: “We knew coming into today that we were under strength with a number of key absences so to bring home the victory is really satisfying. We bowled in partnerships really well, never let them get away, took wickets at key times throughout and then one brilliant partnership with the bat rounded off a fantastic team performance. We’ve had a bit of a rough run recently so hopefully this result can be a turning point as we look to finish the season strongly.”
LMV 2nd XI captain Jack Davis, said: “Not batting our full 40 overs meant we left 40/50 runs out there, and it was always going to be tough to defend on a rapid outfield. With a young side, I was particularly impressed that the boys didn’t give up and fought right until the end.
“Cricket is a game of fine margins, and whilst it didn’t go our way today, there’s a lot to be proud of and many lessons learnt.”
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