SACA V GLOUCESTERSHIRE (50 OVER) MATCH REPORT - 29 JULY 2026

RESULT: GLOUCESTERSHIRE WON BY 83 RUNS

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Having secured three wins out of four matches against first-class county opposition in the last fortnight, comprehensively beating Surrey, Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire, SACA’s Men’s squad were back in action again today, taking on Gloucestershire at Leamington Cricket Club.

MATCH REPORT

On a scorching hot day in the midlands, with barely a cloud in the sky and baking sun, it came as no surprise when Gloucestershire stuck SACA into the field after winning the toss, for what would be a gruelling fifty overs in the extreme heat!

Hassan Mughal and Sai Boorghu took the new ball responsibilities, although a fruitless opening six overs which yielded the Gloucestershire openers 46 runs, brought the first bowling change, as Riaz came into the attack.

With no reward coming the bowlers’ way and a formidable opening partnership being laid down, Jaskaran Singh and Shareeq Sheikh were then brought on, and in the eighteenth over of the innings it did the trick, as the left-arm pace of Singh got the breakthrough, removing Phillips for 49, with the Gloucestershire score on 98 for 1.

The introduction of Hamidullah Qadri’s spin also brought success, in just his second over, as he removed fellow opener Bowden for 43, with the score now on 127 for 2 in the 24^th over.

Qadri struck again six overs later with the score on 174 for 3, and with Viv Hassen bowling at the other end, the seamers were able to gather themselves and recover whilst the spinners got through the overs and took on the load.

A run out in the 36^th over, when the Gloucestershire batters were going on the attack gave SACA a timely lift, and from 208 for 4, the county side were then 230 for 5 after Hassen got the breakthrough to dismiss Middleton for 41.

Qadri struck twice in consecutive balls in the 44^th over of the innings to reduce Gloucestershire to 257 for 7, with Singh and Riaz picking up a wicket apiece in 45^th and 49^th overs respectively.

The final Gloucestershire wicket came by the way of a second run out of the innings, with the county side posting 303, dismissed with just four balls of their allotted 50 overs remaining.

Qadri finished as the pick of the SACA bowlers, with figures of 4 for 52 from his full ten overs.

Set 304 for victory, SACA went on the attack early, with Sinel Gunarathne and Dylan Rawal opening up for the Academy.

With 53 runs on the board inside the first five overs of the reply, Gunarathne was dismissed by Johal for 21, scored off 16 balls, with Rawal also falling in the next over, for 32 off 17 deliveries, with the SACA score progressing to 61 for 2 at the end of the sixth over.

Daniyal Khan and Aum Patel then looked to steady the ship, and whilst still putting the bad balls away, the pair batted more watchfully, taking SACA to 81 for 2 at the completion of the opening ten powerplay overs of the innings.

The pair took the SACA score past 100 in the 14^th over and were building a very handy partnership when Patel was run out in the 17^th over, having scored a patient 17 from 29 balls, and having put on 51 for the third wicket with Khan, taking the score to 112 for 3.

Khan was looking set, and has been in terrific form of late, but he needed someone to stay with him and build a partnership, however Viv Hassen coming in at number five was unable to do so, falling the very next ball for a first ball duck, and neither was Hisham Khan, at number six, who departed in the very next over for a single.

From 112 for 2, SACA had fallen to 115 for 5, losing three wickets in eight balls, and with a further 189 runs still needed to reach their target, they had a mountain to climb.

After Khan fell for 50 in the 27^th over of the reply, scored off 69 deliveries, Sheikh and Riaz were the only remaining SACA batters to make any indent into that target, with 35 (off 53) and 42 (off 35) respectively, although with Qadri, Singh and Mughal only managing single figure scores, SACA were left well short of their target, bowled out for 220 in 39.1 overs, handing Gloucestershire a win by the margin of 83 runs.

SACA will return to action next Monday, when they’ll face Glamorgan in another fifty over encounter, ahead of the two-day SACA Remitly Festival, with the eliminator rounds taking place on Wednesday 12^th August at Wanstead Cricket Club, followed by the grand final taking place at Wormsley Cricket Ground on Thursday 13^th August.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM GLOUCESTERSHIRE 50-OVER MATCH…

Batting:                                                                        

Daniyal Khan                 50 (69)       

Bowling:

Hamidullah Qadri       10-0-52-4

Jaskaran Singh             8.2-1-41-2