12 year old Oliver Smalley was the star of the show this weekend, taking 5 wickets against South North on his senior home debut for the NEPL 3rd team. The 1st's also got back to winning ways with a hard fought win at home to Willington, read on for all details :
NEPL Division 1 - 1st XI v Willington (h) - Won by 5 wickets - Match Report by Phil Haves
Another toss won by Belly enabled us to go back to tried amd trusted formula of asking the opposition to bat following the previous week’s loss when deciding to bat first. The wicket turned out be pretty good to bowl on for our 3 spinners Max, Lee and TK however Callum and Joe didn’t find it to their liking as much as the visitors openers raced to 36 with a number of boundaries. The introduction of Max and Lee stemmed the flow of runs and wickets began to fall as the away team batters struggled to come to terms with tight bowling on a turning pitch. Max continued his good form with the ball finishing an excellent 15 over spell with 3-31. Lee’s 13 over spell yielded 38 runs and 4 wickets whilst TK took 3-19 in his 7 overs as Willington were dismissed for 131 inside 43 overs.
Our reply got off to a disastrous start as Rory was run out 3rd ball for 0 and when Belly was caught at slip for 13 we slipped to 18/2. After Pete had to retire hurt with an injured finger we were in need of a substantial partnership. TK with 34 and Fletch with 30 took the total to 105 and to the brink of victory. All was still not plain sailing however as we lost 3 quick wickets before Max with 10 not out and Abu 6 not out saw us over the line helped along the way by 25 byes.
Saturday sees us entertain Seaham Harbour at NBMS Denton Bank in the last of the series of win/lose/draw games.
1st XI NEPL Scorecard v Willington (h)
NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Hetton Lyons (a) - Match Drawn - Match Report by Pete Jones
Considering how quickly things started going wrong, a draw wasn't a terrible result. As soon as I pulled into the car park I saw Dawson heading to his car to make his way back to The Hill to retrieve his kit bag. Apparently batters would rather drive 40 miles than use someone else's kit.
Warren and Aaron were probably relieved Andy wasn't around and it was the calm captain who had to drag them away from a half finished game of pool to join in the group warm up.
We then lost the toss and were told to field. 260 runs and 6 dropped catches later, Hetton declared 8 wickets down in the 51st over.
We made steady progress with the bat but were always a bit behind the rate. When the billiards brothers, Poxon and Armstrong, fell in quick succession, a win became a bit of a stretch.
We then set ourselves up to bat out the remaining overs. Taylor was the 7th wicket to fall in the 51st over which brought Safi to the crease. Safiun Diip, the man who has played 58 second team league games. The man who left the club at the end of last season seeking more opportunities to bat higher in the order. The man who, with three overs to go, patted back his first ball then tried to smash his next all the way back to Newcastle, and was LBW for a two ball duck. Needless to say his captain was less than impressed. Jones and Hynd saw off the remaining balls and achieved the draw that was no more than our performance deserved.
2nd XI NEPL Scorecard v Hetton Lyons (a)
NTCL Division 5 West - 3rd XI v United Stars (a) - Won by 151 runs - Captains Report by Chris Pounder
A difficult day for 3’s against top of the league United Stars however what was potentially going to be a concession and -10 turned out to be a +6 thanks to some youngsters making their debut’s and some walking wounded.
Having won the toss and electing to field USSC took to the hill bowling with opener Khan finding the bushes 6 times in his way to 76 before Adam Hassan claimed the 1st of his 3 wickets. Khan and Pradeep with a partnership of 119 for the first wicket. Another 28 runs would be added before Adam would get his 2nd Uday (20) with the help of the skipper caught and deep square. Adam’s 3rd would see Saikaran lbw for 9 before Harshir Khan would get his first senior wicket with Salem caught behind for 5. A partnership of 48 between Pradeep and Nasir would end with Ed Moody taking the first of his 2 wickets bowling Nasir for 35 before another 17 runs were added before Srikar was run out by the new boy Naveed Safi for 4. The final wicket of the innings would go to Ed with Adam taking a catch to remove Abbas for 13. USCC wound finish on 279 with opener Pradeep finishing on 73 not out and Rahul with a quick fire 22.
A big total to chase was made that bit harder with two early wickets, Ramin bowled by Asif for 4 and Rash out bowled by Rahul for 12 before a partnership of around 50-60 with Naveed Safi hitting 29 and the impressive Ibrahim Ahmed 35. However once both departed shortly after drinks no one else offered any real hope of chasing down the high total set by USSC. Ed Moody and the injured Rohaan were out for 7, Thomas Hewson and Haashir Khan both without scoring Hasson for 3 and the skipper for 1. Adam Hassan not out at the end on 2.
We have dropped to 2nd bottom after Greenside beat Stamfordham to go 5 points ahead of the hill. However bottom of the table Blaydon were well beaten by Newton getting 4 points so we've pulled 2 points further ahead than we were at the start of the day, so not all bad.
NTCL 3rd XI Scorecard v United Stars (a)
NEPL Sunday Division 1 - 3rd XI v South North - Lost by 3 wickets - Captains Report by Matty Hynd
The NEPL 3rds lost a tight match against a young talented south Northumberland side which will be remembered for the senior home debut of 12 year old Oliver Smalley.
South Northumberland won the toss and elected to field. Liam Hynd and Michael Maclaulan opened and started steadily against an accurate attack. Michael was first out for 22 and then we lost 2 quick wickets leaving us 49 for 3 at 17. Liam and Gabriel started to repair the innings but Liam was out for 29 just after drinks. Taylor was next out and we were struggling at 78/5 from 28. Gabriel and Matt added 65 in 11 overs when Gabriel was bowled for 38. Matt and Daniel Hynd took us to the close at 148/6.
South Northumberland started quickly and were 82/2 after 16. However the introduction of 12 year old Oliver Smalley changed the momentum as he started with a wicket Maiden. He then proceeded to remove their middle order with a controlled spell of left arm spin and finished with amazing figures of 7-1-26-5. South Northumberland eventually winnimg by 3 wickets with 10 overs in hand but the game will certainly be remembered for Olivers superb bowling.
NEPL 3rd XI Scorecard v South North (h)
