Taylorian

Sport

Cricket 2022

1st XI After half term, Taylors’ showed no signs of rustiness and outplayed local rival St Albans in a declaration game. Taylors’ batted first, scoring 260/4dec: Muralitharan was dismissed for a brilliant 100, his second for the 1st XI, pushing Taylors’ towards an imposing total. Sawant calmly batted through, finishing with an outstanding unbeaten 102 at the declaration. St Albans wilted to 37/4 before Pranav Bhatia produced the key wicket of their captain. Sabarish Ganesh came on to wrap up the tail with three wickets, while Vedant Palekar was unlucky to end with just one on debut. Over the years, Taylors’ hallowed 1st XI field has borne witness to many magical moments. Yet this was only the second time in its 89-year history, and the first since 1998, where two batsmen hit centuries in the same innings for the school. This season the boys have shown that they can walk in the footsteps of the greats and create memories of their own to cherish. Typically, the Magdalen College, Oxford fixture is a tough one; Justus and his side knew they would have to play very well to compete. An excellent opening spell of bowling saw the unfortunate early demise of both opening batsmen. Aaryan Sawant and David Justus had a big job to do to consolidate the innings, and consolidate is what they did. Aaryan Sawant’s elegance and David Justus’s power saw a brilliant 100-run partnership flourish, with Sawant making 76 and Justus making 43. Ariyen Patel and Krish Patel both made 32 and saw MTS climb to a score of 235 from 48 overs. Pansilu picked up 4-45 from his 14 overs and Sabarish finished with 2-30 from his 8 overs, including the crucial wicket of the Sussex professional. With 9 overs left and one wicket in hand, Magdalen battled hard for a draw in an exciting game of declaration cricket between two excellent sides. Taylors’ played better for longer periods than MCS, who never looked like chasing down the total. Cricket 2022

score grew and grew. This no-frills brand of cricket was only discarded as Patel sighted the finish line, loosening his arms with some daisy-cutting straight drives. Wijesinghe was a rock, only striking 5 fours in his 81*, a tremendous display of stoicism. Patel ended with 118* and an invitation to Lord’s as an acknowledgment from the MCC. The pair batted with real maturit, and it is truly exciting to think that they will only get better. For the final game of the season, an unusually green surface faced Taylors’. Dulwich won the toss and elected to bat first, with Angus Whiteside and Ayaan Sheikh opening the bowling. Sheikh made the first breakthrough of the morning, but in fairness he had David Justus’ acrobatics at second slip to thank. Whiteside bowled immaculately down the hill, yet Dulwich were able to capitalise on erratic bowling lengths from the other end to keep the scoreboard ticking. Pansilu Wijesinghe picked up two important wickets following his introduction, opening Dulwich’s order for Justus and Ariyen Patel to tear into. Justus picked up three scalps, his pace proving too much for Dulwich, whilst Patel ended with three of his own. He bowled with terrific control of flight and pace as Dulwich subsided from 97/3 to 135 all out. Over the course of the season, Taylors’ batting has been their strong suit, and this was demonstrated once again. Guganeshan Muralitharan and Niam Bhattacharya continued their fruitful opening partnership, putting on 73 for the first wicket either side of lunch. Bhattacharya finally fell to lbw, going for one shot too many, bringing David Justus to the crease. He too was soon out via the same mode of dismissal, but Aaryan Sawant and Muralitharan saw Taylors’ over the line with some powerful hitting at the end. Unfortunately, this ended what was a fantastic season of cricket for the 1st XI. They played 18 matches, of which 13 ended in victory, with one draw, one tie and three defeats. More consistent performances were testament to the leadership group, as well as the

MTS entertained Haberdashers’ in a two day game at Sandy Lodge for the first time in over five seasons. All the players from both sides played hard and there was lots of very skilful cricket on show for nearly 200 overs, with Taylors’ winning by 8 wickets. The main highlights were Ayaan Sheikh securing 4-52 in Haberdashers’ first innings; 93 not out from Pansilu Wijesinghe in the Taylors’ first innings; and 87 not out from Niam Bhattacharya in the 2nd innings. In one of the final games of the year, Taylors’ pulled off a thrilling victory against the MCC, on a day which showcased some of the best cricket that this school has to offer. Taylors’ were made to work hard in the field: Angus Whiteside made the first breakthrough following a period of testing swing bowling, but it quickly became clear that this was an exercise of damage limitation. The MCC batsmen were consistent in picking up boundaries, whilst giving away little in the form of chances. Sabarish Ganesh eventually came to Taylors’ rescue, sliding his left arm spin between bat and pad, before claiming another scalp. OMTs dominated the MCC scorecard, with Jawwad Rasheed and Rahul Randev making thirties, whilst Nikhil Rawal anchored the innings with a superb 118 that had Taylors’ chasing shadows. Justus and Pansilu Wijesinghe picked up consolation wickets as the MCC raced towards a declaration at 261/6. The MTS innings was a story of two halves. Guganeshan Muralitharan looked promising for his 24, but his wicket started a collapse which left Taylors’ limping at 62-4 come tea. Resigned to a draw at best, both players and coaches were downbeat heading into the evening session. Pansilu Wijesinghe and Krish Patel were those tasked with the tall order. They tackled each over as it came: maidens becoming twos, twos becoming fours, and fours becoming sixes. Nerves in the MTS camp began to ease, and instead began to be felt by those fielding for the MCC as the

84

Taylorian 2023