The 1s had an amazing 10 wicket win yesterday (25th April) against Shotley Bridge, thanks to a phenomenal 41 ball unbeaten century from pro David Christie, and 5 for 29 from Sam Martin-Jenkins. The 2s also recorded an exellent 5 wicket win away to Tynemouth, thanks to 68 not out from skipper Joe Fletcher. The NTCL 3s went down to a 5 wicket defeat away to Annfield Plain 2s. On Sunday 1s lost to Barnard Castle in the ECB National Knockout Cup and the NEPL 3's lost to Sacriston in a high scoring game, Read the match reports below for all the action.
NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Shotley Bridge (h) - Won by 10 wickets - Match Report by Phil Haves
Those present on Saturday afternoon witnessed one of the most remarkable innings seen at NBMS Denton Bank in many a year as we romped to a 10 wicket victory over Shotley Bridge for a first League victory of the season.
The day started with the visitors winning the toss & electing to bat on what looked a pretty good wicket. Former Hill player Haydon Mustard & Ross Burdon played with composure & diligence against disciplined opening spells from Harpo & Max adding 45. Then up stepped Sam MJ with a 5 wicket burst to reduce Shotley to 48/5 ably supported by Ben (2/39 off 10) & Harpo who returned to mop up the tail, including Lewis Hall for 45, to finish with 3/13 off 7.2 overs as the visitors were bundled out for just 115.
The real entertainment for the home supporters started after the break as Dave brutally dismantled the Shotley bowling reaching a fantastic 100 off only 41 balls with 7x6s & 12x4s finishing 102 not out as we chased down the 115 in only 8.4 overs. Belly at the non strikers end finished 8 not out including what he describes as the biggest 6 of the day!!!!!
We travel to Seaham Harbour on Saturday to renew old acquaintances from last season when we were both in Division 1.
NEPL 1st XI Scorecard v Shotley Bridge (h)
NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Tynemouth (a) - Won by 5 wickets - Captains Match Report by Joe Fletcher
A near-perfect day for the 2s on Saturday at Tynemouth. Two sides consisting of old and new talent and with ambitions to be near the top of the league come September clashed for the second time in 3 weeks!
Having won the toss and electing to field, we were excellent in restricting an aggressive Tynemouth top order, with a disciplined bowling performance all-round (only conceding 8 extras across the innings). Led by Ayush Chakraborty with an economical spell of 0/29 from his 10 overs, this laid the platform for the rest of the bowlers to chip away with wickets: Jayam Patel claiming 2/7 from 3 overs. Michael MacLauchlan (2/25)(8), Joe Fletcher (2/27)(8), and Aaron Armstrong (2/34)(9), Peter Jones (1/29)(5.4), leaving Tynemouth 152 all out.
In our pursuit of 153, a traditional Benwell Hill collapse at 30/0 -> 37/3 kept things interesting, and the middle order just about provided the necessary platform to go on and win the game with several useful contributions, led by Joe Fletcher, who finished unbeaten on 68* from 79 balls. Support in Liam Hynd with a brisk 16, and Harsh Patel (13), ensured we reached our target of 154/5 with 15 overs to spare.
To secure a 5-wicket victory against a quality Tynemouth outfit is a great result, and hopefully we can keep the momentum going into our first home game vs Whitburn next week!
NEPL 2nd XI Scorecard v Tynemouth (a)
NTCL Division 5 South - 3rd XI v Annfield Plain (a) - Lost by 5 wickets - Vice Captains Report by James Walder
Another young 3rd XI travelled to a sunny but cold Annfield Plain for their second match of the season.
Returning captain, Cherry, won the toss and chose to bat but there was a steady stream of wickets from the start including a hat trick as both opening bowlers picked up 4 wickets in their 9 over spells. The only real resistance was from Thomas H (12) as we fell to 28-8. U15 players Nicholas and Sai then built a good partnership in reaching their top scores for the men's team. Nicholas scored 18 and Sai 26 managing to take the innings past 30 overs and a final score of 81.
There was some hope as Seb and Nicholas both picked up 2 wickets in their opening 5 over spells and it was game on at 26-4. Some powerful middle order hitting meant we only picked up one more wicket with Cherry opening his account for the season and Annfield Plain winning by 5 wickets.
Despite losing there were good contributions from the junior players and we battled well to pick up 3 bonus points.
NTCL 3rd XI Scorecard v Annfield Plain II (a)
NEPL Sunday Division 1 - 3rd XI v Sacriston (a) - Lost by 6 wickets - Captains Report by Matty Hynd
The NEPL 3rd XI got their season up and running on Sunday against a young talented Sacriston team.
Entering the game with a very young team we won the toss and elected to bat with a number of the team still in transit.
We got off to the worst possible start losing one of the 3 senior players Rash Shad, first ball. We then lost Harsh Patel to an unfortunate run out leaving us 17 for 2. Nav Safi and Seb Fletcher-Woods consolidated and looked to counter attack against a strong pace attack. Nav was next out for 31 leaving us 64 for 3 and then Matt Hynd followed leaving us 91/4. Sukvheer joined Seb and they batted well together running hard and punishing the bad ball. Seb passed his highest score and his first 50 as they put on 71 for the 5th wicket. once passing 50 Seb attacked hitting 14 off one over. As fatigue kicked in Seb's run rate increased, however a thick outside edge saw him out for a career best 83. Sukvheer soon followed for a well made 20 and then Sam Stilwell chipped in with a career best 31 from 15 including 3 huge sixes. This took us to maximum batting point and a competitive 201/8.
Sacriston looked to attack and skipper Dodds punished anything loose, Harsh Patel removed Hubber with a beauty and Nav Safi took a blinder to remove Bulmer as Sacriston were 27/2. When Seb removed skipper Dodds for 34 with another catch from Nav and Sacrison were 76/3. We tried to gain some control and stem the scoring and Ollie did well to do so but we struggled to apply pressure at both ends and Waggott scored quickly and young Dixon looked accomplished at the other end, Waggot passed his 50 and the partnership reached 108 when the returning Harsh Patel removed him with another excellent delivery. Waggott had done the damage by then with 77 from 56. Sacriston eventually passed the target with 9 overs remaining and young Dixon being not out 45 at the end.
A great learning experience for the young side against a Sacriston side that will do very well this year. The team picked up 12 points too which was not bad in a loss and a couple of superb performances with Seb Fletcher-Woods stealing the show with his 83 from 90 balls.
Next week we play Whitburn at the Hill which will be another test for the young team.
NEPL 3rd XI Scorecard v Sacriston (a)
