Despite a superb 135 from Dave Christie the 1st's had to settle for a winning draw in their home game against Castle Eden, unfortunately the 2nd's went down to a rare defeat in the reverse fixture at Castle Eden, and both the NTCL 3rd's and NEPL 3rd's were well beaten by Stamfordham and Whitburn respectively. Read on for all the details ...
NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Castle Eden (h) - Winning Draw - Match Report by Phil Haves
With summer eventually arriving at NBMS Denton Bank on Saturday we entertained Castle Eden on a warm sunny day. Having once again lost the toss we were not surprisingly asked to bat on what looked like an excellent wicket.
This was a prelude of what was to come from Dave who launched a blistering attack on the visitors bowling. Having seen Belly (14) retire with a bad back, Adam adjudged LBW first ball and Toby depart for 4 we were effectively 30/3 when he found a willing partner in Sam D. The pair added 171 with Dave smashing the ball to all parts of the ground entertaining the spectators with some brutal hitting as he reached his second League ton of the season. When he was eventually dismissed, with the club individual batting record in his sights, for 135 he had hit 11x6s & 11x4s out of a score of 201. Sam and Ben added a further 72 with Ben scoring a run a ball 42 and when the declaration came after 55 overs. Sam, who had batted unflustered & confidently, remained unbeaten on a PL career best 89 not out with the total on 318/8.
In reply Ben picked up 2 early wickets both caught by Sam D however when the visitors Professional was dropped early in his innings it felt inevitable that he would make the most of his second chance and so it played out as he reached his hundred. Harpo did get just reward for an excellent spell of bowling picking up 4 late wickets however they came too late to enable us to force a win as the visitors finished 241/7 in their 55 overs.
We picked up 17 points for the winning draw and now face a huge couple of weeks with games at South North and Burnmoor.
NEPL 1st XI Scorecard v Castle Eden (h)
NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Castle Eden (a) - Lost by 60 runs - Captain's Match Report by Joe Fletcher
We were due one, after 5 weeks of success in a row, the 2s finally tasted defeat for the first time in a red ball fixture this season.
Having lost the toss and asked to field we were frustrated by an excellent opening partnership and 100 from their skipper in testing conditions, and although we had numerous half chances to remove him, we were unable to do so. Having said this we did excellently to remove Castle Eden for 208, considering they were 204/4.
In the second half, we disappointed. Sometimes your luck it out and we often found the only fielder on the (tiny!) boundary at crucial times in the game. No one really got going, bar a few starts, and in the end we were skittles for 140.
That result leaves us fourth, with a class against South North next week who have just leapfrogged us into third!
NEPL 2nd XI Scorecard v Castle Eden (a)
NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Stamfordham (a) - Lost by 94 runs - Captain's Match Report by Chris Pounder
The NTCL 3’s suffered a 94 run defeat on Saturday at the hands of our former landlords Stamfordham. Stamfordham won the toss and chose to bat first, the main contribution to the 215/8 was Andy McGrath who top scored with 97 before he fell to the spin of Ollie Smalley. Alex Meadows (36) and James Carr (35) were the next highest scorers. At one point we were looking at just 2 bowling bonus points with Stamfordham before Ollie with 3 wickets and a run out plus a wicket for Haroon boosted the bowling points to 4.
In reply we were 7 down for just 42 with Inyatullah Habibi with 32 the only top order contributor. It was looking like the 4 bowling points were going to be the maximum we’d get from the game however an excellent 72 run partnership between Adam Hasan (22) and Haroon Malik (54) got us some much needed extra batting points, as we finished 121 all out.
Despite a heavy defeat what we can take from the game is the willingness to dig in and gain those vital points that will hopefully ensure we remain in the league.
NTCL 3rd XI Scorecard v Stamfordham (a)
NEPL Sunday Division 1 v Whitburn (a) - Lost by 9 wickets - Match Captain's Report by Matty Hynd
The NEPL 3s were looking to make in 3 wins in a row when they travelled to Whitburn, however they were well beaten.
Winning the toss and electing to bat we were soon in trouble against their accurate attack. Losing Daniel, Harsh and Liam wirh just 19 on the board. Nav and Aaron took us to 41 before Nav was well caught for 10. Aaron batted nicely but when he was out for 32 and we were 73/6, another collapse had us 81 all out in 25 overs. Harsh removed their opener but youngsters McGill and Shields were aggressive in their approach and they cruised to victory in 14 overs.
A bad day at the office all round and a week off this with the 2nd team 100 on Sunday before a return to action away to Philadelphia.
NEPL Sunday 3rd XI Scorecard v Whitburn (a)
