Another busy weekend of fixtures read on to see how the Hill got on this weekend.
10th June - 1st XI v Lanchester (away)- NEPL T20
After a win on Wednesday against Durham Cricket Academy in the NEPL T20 Group B f, the 1s continued their good T20 form with an entertaining 7 wicket win in the same competition at Lanchester. Skipper Pete won the toss and elected to field, with the team bolstered by the return of Kyle Coetzer, fresh from a successful tour of the USA with Scotland.
Lanchester posted an impressive 1725 for 9 off 20 overs, there were 2 wickets each for Rory Hanley, Luke Doneathy and Max Williamson, with 1 each for Mohsin Mukhtar and Pete Jones. The small boundaries meant the Hill were always in with a chance, and so it proved with Luke Doneathy hitting an amazing 94 off only 41 balls, with 3 x 4s and 10 (!) x 6s. He was ably assisted by Mohsin Mukhtar with 47 not out from 38 balls.
The victory means the Hill still have the opportunity of progressing through to the Quarter Finals with victories needed at home to Felling on Friday 17th June and at home to Gateshead Fell on 24th June.
The match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5113436
11th June - 1st XI v South North (away) - NEPL League
Unfortunately the 1s couldn't keep up the momentum of their two victories in the NEPL T20 competition, as they went down to a narrow 3 wicket defeat against South North on Saturday.
It was a tale of what could of been as a late collapse saw the Hill go from 161 for 6 to 177 all out in 54 overs. Kyle Coetzer the pick of the batters with a hard fought 69, opener Angus Guy next best on 32.
The late collapse proved crucial as South North limped over the line 7 wickets down, and it was clear another 20-30 runs could of been the difference that would of turned this defeat into a victory. Mohsin Mukhtar with 3 wickets and Callum Harding with 2 the pick of the bowlers. There was also an impressive display from youngster Haydon Mustard behind the stumps, including a magnificent diving catch to remove Chris Hewison off the bolwing of Callum.
The match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5024330
11th June - 2nd XI v South North (home) - NEPL League - Matty Hynd's match report
Looking to try and build some momentum from last weeks 30-point win, we took on South Northumberland at home on a bright but windy day. We saw a few changes to last weeks line-up but had what on paper was close to a full-strength bowling attack, although the in-from Joe Moore was on holiday weakening the batting.
Losing the toss again we were asked to field. Kilpatrick and Kitchen opened the bowling and were unlucky not to make a breakthrough as South Northumberland made a cautious and steady start. The change bowling of Safi eventually making the first breakthrough on the stroke of drinks leaving South Northumberland 82/1. Scoring remained steady at approximately 3.5 per over but wickets had started to fall at regular intervals but opener Fletcher was still not out, batting sensibly and punished any bad balls. At 133/5 honours were even, with Fletcher well set on 81*, the bowlers stuck to their plans and although Fletcher passed 100 and some late hitting from McCord 30 from 22, a declaration of 204/8 in 53 looked slightly under par. Safi 3/39, Jones 2/40, Siddique 2/20 and Torre 1/47 sharing the wickets between them.
We got off to a bright start however skipper Hynd was first out for 15, Aatif and McGregor then put on 91 of the second wicket before Aatif was out LBW sweeping for a well made 76 from 93. Nadella (0), McGregor (31) and Siddique (4) quickly followed leaving us with plenty to do at 143/5 against the turning ball of Khan who had picked up 4 quick wickets. However, Kitchen 36 from 33 and Fletcher 39 from 38 batted positively to see us home with 7 overs to spare. Back-to-back wins pushing us into the middle of the table where 45 points cover the top 7 sides in what is looking like the most competitive season in a number of years. Next week sees the 3rd home game in a row against newly promoted Castle Eden.
The match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5024707
11th June - 3rd XI v Riding Mill (away) - West Tyne League - Chris Pounder's match report
Despite a narrow defeat to Riding Mill on Saturday the West Tyne League 3rd 11 moved up above Mitford in the table.
After losing the toss we batted first and suffered an early loss, losing Rory without scoring. A partnership of 32 followed between Davey and Taylor before Taylor fell for 11. Partnerships of 29 (Davey and Jim Robisnson) and 75 (Davey and Warren) would see us finish on 145/6 from 40 overs with Davey hitting 102.
In reply Riding Mill finished on 149/6 in the 37th over with their skipper hitting 65 not out. Wickets for the hill went to the skipper 3/26 Haroon 1/23 Shay 1/25 and Ben Robinson 1/22.
The highlight of the day was clearly Davey’s ton but special mentions must go to the junior lads who yet again showed their value to the side. Warren‘s performance with the bat and ball. Ben Robinson getting his 2nd West Tyne League wicket and catch at mid off and Rory taking an important catch at long off which helped the side get back into the game and securing those batting and bowing points that saw us move up the table despite the defeat.
The match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5294936
12th June - 3rd XI v Sacriston (home) - NEPL Sunday League
The NEPL Sunday team entertained Sacriston at Denton Bank in their first fixture of the month, however we went down by 5 wickets in a high scoring game.
The Hill batted first scoring an impressive 204 for 7 off 40 overs. Under 15 player Freddie McGregor top scoring with 63, ably assisted by skipper Fletcher with 54, there was also useful late order runs from Abu Siddiqe with 28 and Taylor Matthews with 22.
Sacriston chased down the total with 19 balls to spare for the loss of 5 wickets. Warren Poxon the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets, and there was 1 each for Abu and Taylor. The team go again next Sunday away to Gateshead Fell.
The match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5134473
