Crawley Eagles win again thanks to Atif Ali's four-wicket haul

On the longest day of the year Eagles did not need much time to dispatch Rottingdean at Falmer Road.

The home side having the won the toss and elected to bat first were at a comfortable 41-1 before Atif Ali (4/25) and Imran Mehaboob (2/24) ripped through the top order and left the hosts reeling at 45/5.

A fighting partnership of 49 between Henry Ledden (33) and James Bergin (15) ensured that Rottingdean score would at least cross three figures.

However, the Eagles bowling line up can switch matches in deliveries let alone overs and the return of the pacer Adil Mustapha (3/28) justified this point as he and the off spinner Hamid Raiz (1/9) tore through the lower order and the Rottingdean innings collapsed to 106 all out from 42 overs.

In reply the mercurial Eagles batting line was reshuffled as captain Imran Suddahazai sought to stabilize the top order and opened with Hisham ul Haq (6).

Eagles were cruising and in complete control at 72/2 before Imran Suddahazai (35) picked out a lonesome fielder at long leg and Hamid Raiz (30) chipped one to extra cover.

The Eagles batting line short on runs was placed under further duress.

With a handful of runs required a slight panic ensued as Rehan Hassan and the reliable Anjum Zafar followed each other.

However, last year’s openers Fazlan Nizamdeen (5) and Tufail Dar (8) batting at 7 and 8 respectively finally brought the game home in 25 overs.

Captain Imran Suddahazai said: “I know a lot of people are talking about our batting being a weak link but so far we have won four games out of five chasing.

“So in my opinion at this stage with the weather and condition of pitches being as they are we have managed to get the job done and that is the main target.

“30 points is 30 points and we will take them with 10 wickets or even one-wicket wins!”

Eagles welcome league leaders Pagham 1st XI to their ground in Cherry Lane, Langley Green on Saturday in their top of the table clash.