Apologies for the delay in posting the match reports from the fixtures on the weekend of 13-14 June, however a beach sun bed in Rhodes was a far more appealing proposition. It was another mixed weekend of results with the 2nd's and NEPL Sunday 3rd's both winning, however the 1st's and NTCL 3rd's both lost.
NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Ashington (a) - Lost by 6 wickets
A visit to Langwell Terrace was our next challenge towards achieving an elusive second League victory of the season as Northumberland rivals Ashington were our hosts.
Not for the first time this season we lost the toss & were asked to bat first. Dave & Belly opened up & once again their partnership passed the half century mark before the skipper was bowled by former Hill seamer Gardiner for 14 with the total on 69 in only the 12th over. Adam joined Dave who then lost a fair bit of the strike & having reached 83 off 97 balls he was bowled just prior to lunch with the score on 121. Toby batting at 4 added a further 20 to the total with Adam before the latter’s long vigil came to an end bowled for 22 off 89 balls. Morgan came & went fairly quickly for 6 with Ben following shortly afterwards for 8. Toby reached his first Hill League half century but was dismissed with the score on 200 for a well made 54. Max hit a run a ball 19 which helped us to 232/8 having batted our full 58 overs. Given the start to the innings we had this felt like an under par total on what looked a decent batting surface.
In reply we managed to get 2 fairly early wickets however former Hill Pro Kothari & Evans, who was dropped first ball, ensured our depleted bowling attack toiled as they added 158 to take the game away from us. Although both fell to Aaron the home side cruised to a 6 wicket victory inside 42 overs
Another disappointing result on the road which leaves us rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table.
NEPL 1st XI Scorecard v Ashington (a)
NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Ashington (h) - Won by 106 runs - Captain's Match Report by Joe Fletcher
Another convincing win for the 2s on Saturday against Ashington.
Having won the toss and deciding to bat, we were in serious trouble after both Patels were dismissed in the first over to leave us 0/2. However, a gutsy Partnership between captain Joe Fletcher and Ayush Chakraborty guided us to 130/2. From here we struggled, and if not for a quick fire 30* (23) from Peter Jones we would’ve finished our innings well short of the eventual 211/8.
In the second half, we were extremely dominant again. A run out and a burst of 3 wickets for Joe Fletcher early on created a great platform for the spinners to take over, and with Ayush and Jonesy combining for the remaining 6 wickets, we were able to win by over 100 runs.
That result leaves us third in a close battle at the top!
NEPL 2nd XI Scorecard v Ashington (h)
NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Corbridge (h) - Lost by 4 wickets - Captain's Match Report by Chris Pounder
Unfortunately after a good win last week against Newton the 3rds were unable to make it back to back wins after a disappointing performance against Corbridge.
Having lost the toss we started brightly with Seb and new boy Jamie Dingle opening the batting.
Jamie was looking good hitting four fours in his 29 before playing, in his words, a very bad shot leaving us 1 down for 31. From then it was a bit of a batting collapse with 8 wickets falling for just 21 runs. A last wicket stand of 40 between Jamie Fletcher-Woods (22) and Mark Charlton (12) would get us to a total of 92 and a chance to get a result out of the game.
At one point we were in with a shout having Corbridge 69/5 but that 92 would prove to be to be 30 runs light and Corbridge reached their total in the 27th over. The skipper took 2 wickets, with 1 wicket each for Nick Mason, Seb Fletcher-Woods, Jeff Mason and Ollie Smalley,
NTCL 3rd XI Scorecard v Corbridge (h)
NEPL Sunday Division 1 v Sacriston (h) - Won by 5 wickets - Match Captain's Report by Matty Hynd
The NEPL 3s took on Sacriston at home looking to build on last weeks's big win against CLS.
Ayush captained the side and lost the toss and we were asked to field. Sacriston started well against Nic Walder and Gabriel, and Nic was unlucky to see 2 catches dropped off hime before Gabriel removed their captain at 35/1. Hector Walder entered the attack and was soon rewarded with 2 wickets both caught by Naveed. Wickets continued to fall and The Hill were on top at 99/6 after Harsh removed opener Sam Hubber for 48. Some late order hitting from Alfie Hart 33 brought Sacriston to a competitive 168/8, with Harsh taking a career best 3-10, Hector 2-16 and Nick Mason 2-25.
The batting order had to be changed about at half time due to a couple of hand injuries to Harsh and Nick Mason, so Gabe opened up with Liam. They laid the perfect platform when Gave was out for 16 just before drinks. Nav joined Liam and they ran well together before Nav was dismissed for 14. Liam passed his first NEPL 50, but we lost Sukvheer (8) and Jeff Mason (6) in quick succession, leaving us 126/4 and a run a ball needed. We then lost Liam for a career best 72, but Abdul 16 not out from 14 and skipper Ayush 26 not out from 13 pushed over the line with 12 balls remaining. A well timed run chase and another good win for the NEPL 3s. A big shout out to Ayush who captained the team superbly in a close run game. Next match is Whitburn away where we look to try and win our 3rd matcth in a row.
NEPL Sunday 3rd XI Scorecard v Sacriston (h)
