GLOUCESTERSHIRE v SACA (50 OVER) MATCH REPORT - 16 JULY 2026

RESULT: SACA WON BY 94 RUNS

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SACA’s Men’s squad made it back-to-back victories over first-class county opponents today, when they came out on top again in their second fifty-over clash of the week, beating Gloucestershire at Swindon Cricket Club.

Today’s victory comes after SACA had demolished a strong Surrey side on Tuesday by 8 wickets, taking down a Surrey eleven that included six players boasting over 200 first team caps between them!

Whilst today’s Gloucestershire eleven were less ‘star-studded’, nothing can be taken away from the SACA side, who fought back from a difficult start with the bat to secure an important win and another impressive performance.

MATCH REPORT

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, SACA would have been hopeful of a strong start against Gloucestershire, however it was anything but, as wickets fell early in the innings to put SACA right on the back foot and needing a rear-guard recovery from the middle to late order to post any meaningful total.

First to go was Dylan Rawal, cleaned bowled by Aman Rao for a single in just the second over of the innings. In the sixth, his fellow open Rahul Tangirala also fell victim to Rao, to depart for 8.

Rao then accounted for both Amogh Karpe for 1, nicking to slip, and Savin Perera, caught behind for 8, and Rao had cleaned up the top four, with SACA struggling on 21 for 4 after 8 overs.

After six overs from Rao, in which he’d picked up figures of 4 for 14, he was replaced by Rhys Pollitt, and in just his second over he accounted for the wicket of Viv Hassen, who went for 5, with SACA now in deep trouble on 56 for 5 after 16 overs and in need of something special down the order to pull them out of a hole.

Their recovery was spearheaded by all-rounder Hisham Khan, who set about re-building the innings, adding 56 for the sixth wicket with Shareeq Sheikh (27 off 49), taking SACA to 112 for 6 in the 32^nd over.

A further 16 runs were added with Hamidullah Qadri, before Khan’s brave knock came to an end, out for 66 from 89 deliveries, with SACA on 128 for 7.

Qadri then stuck on another 20 runs for the eighth wicket with Zain Latif, who fell for 14 off 25, becoming Rao’s fifth victim, after returning for a second spell of pace!

Qadri himself then went, out for 21 from 31 balls, although not before he’d stuck on another 27 runs for the ninth wicket with Manraj Johal, as SACA had clawed their way up to 175 for 9 in the 45^th over.

The final pair of Johal and Eesa Nadeem stuck around to add another 28 runs for the final wicket, taking them over the psychological hurdle of 200 runs, before Johal became Rao’s sixth wicket, falling for 17 off 22 balls in the final over of the innings, as Rao, who’d been a thorn in SACA’s side all day long, finished with figures of 6 for 25 from 9.2 very tidy overs!

SACA’s total of 203 looked below par, and they’d need to be on it from ball one to give themselves any chance of securing a consecutive win against a county side!

With ball now in hand, and the job at hand laid out, it took the SACA bowlers just three overs to make the breakthrough, with Johal clean bowling Bowden for 3.

12 for 1 became 23 for 2 soon after as Johal struck again, trapping Eckland in front for a single!

Khalid Hamidi then got in on the action, striking twice in four overs, first bowling Dunne for 17, and then finding the Edge of Brown to slip, also departing for 17, as Gloucestershire had stumbled to 46 for 4.

Much like SACA, Gloucestershire needed a recovery, but where SACA found one, in the form of a significant sixth wicket partnership, Gloucestershire didn’t, as Rao’s departure for 20 and Johnson’s departure for a duck, saw the hosts in the mire on 77 for 6 after just 20 overs, with Qadri picking up the latest brace of wickets.

Sheikh struck again soon after, removing Charlesworth for a duck, before doing so again just 6 overs later, as Gloucestershire were on the edge of defeat, eight wickets down for just 95 runs, still trailing SACA by 108 runs.

With Johal, Hamidi, Qadri and then Sheikh all picking up a brace of wickets, it seemed only fitting for the fifth bowler to follow suit, and so it was, as Zain Latif finished the job off, picking up the final pair, Syed for a duck in the 28^th over and then Pollitt for 17 in the 32^nd, as Gloucestershire were rolled for just 109 to see SACA secure a win by the margin of 94 runs.

It was a game in stark contrast to Tuesday’s encounter against Surrey, but today showed plenty of courage and fight from the SACA squad, to firstly fight back with the bat and post an innings, and then secondly to be so destructive with the ball to finish off their county opponents so comprehensively.

There’s no rest for the SACA squad, who head straight to Leeds for another fifty over outing against Yorkshire tomorrow, where they’ll be looking for a trio of fifty-over victories this week!

SACA HIGHLIGHTS FROM GLOUCESTERSHIRE 50 OVER MATCH…

Batting:                                                                        

Hisham Khan                66 (89)    

Bowling:

Zain Latif                       2.2-0-10-2

Hamidullah Qadri       6-1-12-2

Shareeq Sheikh           5-1-16-2

Manraj Johal                8-1-23-1

Khalid Hamidi             4-1-23-2