Another disappointing weekend results wise, with unavailability and injuries decimating all senior teams. A victory on Sunday for the 1s in the Bank Salver the only bright spot.
21 May - 1st XI v Newcastle (a)
With several key players missing the 1s went down by 5 wickets to Newcastle at Jesmond. Pete won the toss and elected to bat. The Hill posted 153 for 9 in 50 overs. This was largely down to an excellent 46 not out from Hector Chambers, who led a recovery from 97 for 8 with late order support from Andy Dawson and Anth Hunter.
Despite taking 5 wickets, Newcastle reached the Hill target in only 27 overs, 1 wicket each for Anth, Rory, Mohsin, Max and Hector.
The match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5024319
21 May - 2nd XI v Newcastle (h) - Matty Hynd's report
On the weekend where the club was decimated with unavailability we faced title favourites Newcastle with a number of new faces. We handed debuts to 2 of the talented under 13 group Ben Robinson and Rory Mustard. Inevitably we lost the toss and Newcastle elected to bat. The score of 349/7 doesn't tell the whole story as the team stuck in well and with some luck could have been a lot better with Safi 2/54, Abu 1/58, Aatif 2/75 and Pounder 1/67 taking the wickets. Young Ben Robinson bowled very well without luck 5 overs 0/37.
The score was always going to be too much to chase and so it proved despite some early resistance from Moore 27 from 22, Abu with 14 and a late flurry from Safi 20 from 31 we were all out for 128. Again young Rory Mustard caught the eye with some stout defence and a lovely reverse sweep for 4 to get him off the mark. A disappointing outcome but the team never gave up even when Newcastle were 190/0. Hopefully next week we will see some returning faces to bolster the ranks otherwise its going to be a tough season for all.
The match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5024706
22 May - 3rd XI v Belsay (a) - Chris Pounder's report
The West Tyne League 3’s travelled to Belsay for our home fixture on Sunday. After losing the toss and being asked to field Belsay ended their 40 overs on 244/4 with opener Fenwick hitting 111 and Hedley hitting 52.
In reply The Hill finished on 149/9 with a welcome return to runs for Rohaan Aatif who finished with 74. Unfortunately wickets fell quite quickly after Rohaan departed with only three other batsmen making double figures. The skipper 19 not out Ariful Islam 16 and Rashid Shad 11. Again the youngsters in the side showed promise. Warren Poxon continuing his excellent spells of bowling and Ariful’s batting were to be commended
Unfortunately this result puts us at the bottom of the table after 5 games after being leapfrogged by Belsay.
The match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5294808
22 May - 1st XI v Shotley Bridge (h) - Banks Salver
There was a welcome return to winning ways for the 1s on Sunday, with a 57 run victory against Shotley Bridge in the Banks Salver. The Hill batted first scoring 248 for 5, skipper Halliday top score with 74, ably assited by a 62 not out from in form Hector Chambers, 46 from Angus Guy and 28 from Haydon Mustard.
With 5 spinners in the Hill line up, Shotley struggled to get on top of the rate, and eventually finished on 191 all out, largely thanks to a superb 99 not out from Kieran Milburn. Haydon Mustard took 3 wickets, Max 2 and 1 each for Mohsin, Safiun and Hector. 2 late run outs denying Kieran a chance of his century.
The match scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/5432669
