The 1st XI made it 3 wins out of 3 in 2023, with a nail biting 1 run win over Whitburn at the Hill. It was a similar tight affair in the reverse fixture at Whitburn, with the Hill once again coming out on top this time by 1 wicket following an amazing late order effort recovering from 30 for 5. Well played Warren Poxon - read on for the full details.
Phil Haves' match report - Sometimes life throws pleasant surprises & at approximately 11am on Saturday one occurred when Pete actually won a toss!…. After having to think for a few minutes what happens now, he decided to have a bat.
Luke & Haydon were first to the crease for the Hill & as with the 2 previous games they launched a blistering attack on the Whitburn bowlers racing to an opening partnership of 72 inside 7 overs before Haydon departed for 27. Luke followed soon afterwards for 42 off 27 balls including 4 sixes & 2 fours. 81/2 soon became 101/5 as Belly, Kyle & Pete fell cheaply. Adam then dropped anchor & added 40 with Will (25) & 59 with Vasi who continued his good form with the bat making 38. Adam completed an unbeaten half century (52no) as we finished on 241/9 in our allotted 50 overs.
With aid of several wides the Whitburn reply started well & Majeed & Henderson took the score to 68 before we gained our first success with Kyle bowling Henderson. Max then took the prize wicket of Jack Burnham rather fortuitously bowling the number 3 for nought. 2 further quick wickets fell as the visitors slumped to 69/4. A partnership of 53 by overseas player Chivers & Smith took the score to 122 then Whitburn captain Shields added a further 55 with the left hander before Callum returned to take 2 quick wickets. Chivers continued to score freely to get his side within 20 of their target before Vasi claimed his important wicket for a well made 88. With the last pair at the crease the visitors inched towards the required 250 however with 1 run required Vasi trapped last man Muchall LBW to secure a 1 run win…. Great entertainment for the spectators!
Kyle with 3/39, Callum 2/59, Vasi 2/41 & Max 2/49 were the wicket takers.
A visit to Felling to play a strong home side awaits us on Saturday as we look to continue our excellent start to the season
The 1st XI Scorecard v Whitburn is available here.
Matt Hynd's match report - the 2s won the toss and elected to bowl for a second week in a row. Safi and Kilpatrick opened up and both bowled well passing the edge on numerous occasions with no luck. Whitburn had made it to 26/0 In 11 overs when Abu removed one of the openers. Nadella replaced Kilpatrick and he too passed the edge multiple times. However scoring was still hard and The Hill bowled well. The pressure started to tell and Nadella picked up 2 wickets and Poxon his first in second XI cricket. Leaving Whitburn 78/4. Whitburn kept the board ticking over and a couple of dropped catches allowed no 6 Mark Elliott a chance to hit some big sixes. Being particularly brutal in the last over hitting 4 x 6 before being out last ball, leaving Whitburn on a very competitive 194/8. All 6 Bowlers took wickets Safi 1-27, Kilpatrick 1-25, Siddique 1-41, Nadella 2-24, Poxon 1-22 & Tidmarch 2-50.
The momentum shift carried on into the second half as we made a bad start, losing the top 5 for only 30 runs. Robson and Dawson started to repair the damage but overs were slipping away as the rate was about 6 per over. Dawson was next out for a well made 44 from 69 and when opener Ian Elliott returned and picked up Robson 44 from 70, Kilpatrick (2) and Siddique first ball the game looked finished as we slipped to 138/9. Ian Elliott bowling out for 5-30 from his 10. However Safi and Poxon took advantage of a deep field and picked up some ones and twos and kept us in the game knowing that Whitburns main Bowlers had bowled out. However needing 20 from the last over appeared a few too many. However Poxon had other ideas. Picking up, 5 from the first 3 balls from the start of the over, meant that we needed 15 from 3 balls. Poxon then hit ball 4 and 5 for 6 meaning we needed 2 to tie. Again Warren opted for aggression and hit a perfect straight drive for 4, meaning that we won by 1 wicket ! Safi ended up 21 not out from 23 and Poxon 39 not out from 29! What a performance from the guys in the middle and lower order! Editor comment - perhaps the order was wrong way round Matty!!
The 2nd XI Scorecard v Whitburn is available here.
Chris Pounder's match report - The West Tyne 3s suffered a home loss against a very strong Haydon Bridge. We lost the toss and bowled first. Haydon bridge scoring 295/8off their 40 overs. 2 wickets each for Zain Ahmed and Ben Robinson. We were 88 all out with the bat with Abhinay Roy top scoring with 31 and a very tidy 19 from Rory Mustard. This was a very inexperienced team without its usual captain but with potential to improve as the season progresses.
