Debutant captains lead Scintilla to opening day wins

Emdad Rahman

IT WAS THE tale of two captains in the Essex County Cricket League Premier Division as Zisan Abedin and Yesin Arafat led both Scintilla teams to impressive victories in their respective opening day fixtures. 

Abedin’s first XI faced Redbridge CC in their curtain raiser at Fairlop. The visitors batted first to reach 238/9 from 45 overs, with Khalil (52) and Sunny (48) the pick of the batsmen. Sajal Rahman took three wickets, supported by Abedin (2) and Ayaz Karim (1).

Ashraful Islam

Scintilla cruised to a seven wicked victory as the outstanding Ashraful Islam, who one year ago had suffered from a life threatening illness, plundered 102. Captain “Fantastic” Abedin showed his steel with 76 not out, and debutant Anam Arafat Amit struck 37 as Scintilla reached 239/3 from 38 overs.

Abedin analysed his side’s performance, saying, “The boys were immense and having leaders like Karim and Rahman means their quality and influence rubs off on the whole team. It’s a highly competitive league and we will need that combination of experience, expertise and raw talent over the course of this season. Congratulations to everyone and congratulations to man of the match Ashraful Islam for his ton.”

The Scintilla second XI won the local derby as Newham CC were comprehensively beaten at the Bobby Moore Pavilion by Yesin Arafat’s high energy packed starting eleven. Scintilla won the toss and elected to field first, reducing Newham to 178 all out from 41.3 overs. Joint man of the match Rifat Mahmud inflicted immeasurable damage with 5 wickets. Mahabub Ahsan Chisty (2), Adil Ejaz Bhatti and Jahedul Hoque finished off the hosts.

Scintilla needed 27.3 overs to reach 179/4, as captain and joint man of the match Arafat smashed a fantastic century. He spoke after the game, saying, “It’s an honour to lead Scintilla this year. We have a competitive streak which I will always be looking to capitalise on this season. All I ask is for my team to give 100% – the rest will follow.”

Scintilla lost their Sunday NCL encounter at Peter May as Chakwal CC strolled to a 5-wicket victory after the home side were skittled out for 102 from 26 overs. “A disappointing Sunday for us, but I’m hopeful we will bounce back stronger from a temporary setback,” said Ayaz Karim.

The team’s debut game in the Essex Sunday Cricket League against Hainault and Clayhall CC was tied. The highlight of the game for Shaha Riadh’s men was the form of the batsmen as Mohammad Badrul Alam Chowdhury and Zisan Abedin were not out on 75 and 55 runs respectively. “We gave a good account of ourselves and we will build on the confidence gained from today,” said Riadh.

[Adverts]