Three wins out of five over the weekend, read all about it in the Captains reports below.
27th May - 1st XI v Washington (a) - NEPL T20 - Pete Hallidays match report
Friday night saw a welcome return to winning ways in our first T20 group game at Washington. A strong bowling performance restricted the visitors to 84/9 from their 20 overs with all 5 bowlers contributing. The Hill completed the victory by 6 wickets in the 17th over.
Match scorecard available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5113400
28th May - 1st XI v Felling (h) - NEPL - Pete Hallidays match report
On Saturday we returned to red ball action for the first time, hosting a strong Felling side who had started the season with a number of impressive victories. The visitors’ skipper suggested he rarely wins the toss (he should see my record!), and so the inevitable happened, and the Hill were asked to bowl. Doneathy, Fletcher and Torre replaced Nadella, Chambers and Hunter.
A rather alarming start from a Hill perspective as Felling raced to 43 in no time at all before Rory Hanley dismissed prolific opener Travis Norris for 18. His opening partner Metcalfe continued in a fluent manner, but when he was removed at 76-4, the game looked to turn favorably. At 126-7, the Hill looked to have complete control, however the Felling lower order played sensibly and attacked with conviction at the end, to finish with a very competitive 222-8 from 58 overs. Captain Paul Leonard with 40* and Sebastian Allison 54. The Hill spinners bowled with brilliant control in the middle overs, Williamson 2-30 and Mukhtar 4-34, both from a maximum 15 overs, the key contributors.
In response, the Hill were reduced to 33-3, Angus Guy providing 29 of these runs. A brilliant opening spell from Seb Allison and Elliot Fox caused the damage. Luke Doneathy (48) and Phill Bell began to build a partnership which forced the hosts back into the game. The former departed to a good catch in the slips just after the afternoon tea break, and at 118-4, plenty of work still to do. 200 was the winning draw target and seemed the most realistic objective. Mustard, Fletcher and Hanley all formed vital partnerships with Bell, pushing us to 190-7 with 3 overs remaining. Max Williamson (13*) walked to the middle with a license to force the win, and he delivered almost immediately, striking his second ball for a 6 back over the bowler’s head. At the other end, Bell continued to manipulate the field and showed incredible fitness towards the latter stages of his innings. The current 1XI player of the year was once again the hero, finishing with an unbeaten 74 which including a double-figure haul from the last over, and a very tense 2 from the final ball. A brilliant result and certainly a great game for the neutral and even the Hill captain some 20 minutes later once the nerves had finally disappeared.
A busy week ahead as we are on the road again at Burnmoor on Friday evening, before a trip to another in-form side, Burnopfield, on Saturday.
Match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5024242
28 May - 2nd XI v Gateshead Fell (a) - NEPL - Matty Hynd's match report
The first of the win/lose/draw matches saw another young second team (3 x u15 and 1 x u13) travel to a strong looking Gateshead Fell.
Joe Moore won the toss and elected to bat. A lot of the batters got in but no-one managed to kick onto a score with Moore (19), Aatif (25), McGregor (34) and Nadella (42) all managing starts. The middle order faltered a bit leaving us 150/9, however Rory Mustard showed some real grit and determination with 17 not out in a n unbeaten 10th wicket stand of 31 with Safi leaving us 181/9 after 55. On a good wicket and a fast outfield, against a strong looking batting team this looked a bit light. The Hill started brightly by removing the opener Wake cheaply. However Smith and Stacey counter attacked well. Moore changed the bowling round to try and make the breakthrough runs were flowing and The Fell recorded a comfortable 7 wicket win in 41 overs. The juniors again performing well I'm difficult circumstances.
Match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5024735
29 May - 2nd XI v Seaham Park (a) - Banks Bowl - match review
On Sunday 29 May the 2's returned to winning ways with a 7 wicket victory against Seaham Park in the Banks Bowl. Haydon Mustard with 87 (off 42 balls with 5x4s and 9x6s) and Rohan Aatif with 47 (off 39 balls with 9x4s and 1x6) the main contributors as we chased down Seaham's 153 in only 15.3 overs. Pete Jones took 4 wickets earlier in the day.
The match scorecard is availlable here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5433457
28 May - 3rd XI v Newton (a) - West Tyne - Chris Pounder's match report
The West Tyne 3’s suffered another defeat this time at the hands of Newton at Mowden Hall.Due to unforeseen circumstances 3’s lost Rory Mustard to 2’s and travelled up with 10 players.
After winning the toss and batting 1st we were all out for 136. Rash 65 and MD Salim a quick fire 29 the highlights in the first innings.
In reply Newton were 30/0 in the 8th over when Laura suffered what turned out to be a dislocated and fractured finger and left for hospital treatment in the capable hands of Archie with Taylor taking over with the gloves. Newton finished 137/4 in the 29th over with Will Bonnici hitting 47. Wickets for the hill went to Davey 1/15 Rash 2/35 and MD Salim 1/6.
On a day when anything that could go wrong did go wrong I couldn’t fault the efforts of all involved. Things can only get better
The match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5294813
