It was another tough weekend for the 1st XI as they lost heavily (by 8 wickets) at Ropery Lane against Chester le Street, the 2nd XI also went down in the reverse fixture at NBMS Denton Bank by 4 wickets, however the NTCL 3rd XI recorded an excellent 9 wicket victory at Newbrough against South North, read on for all the details.
NEPL Premier Division - 1st XI v Chester le Street (a) - Lost by 8 wickets - Match report by Phil Haves
Another chastening afternoon in the sun unfolded as we visited Ropery Lane as we fell to a comprehensive 8 wicket defeat.
Asked to bat first Dave and Rory once again came out of the blocks at a fast pace adding 35 for the first wicket before Dave was dismissed for 19 off 19 balls (2x6 & 1x4).This soon became 49/3 with Belly (7)and Morgan (5) falling cheaply. When Sam was caught having made 7 we had slipped to 70/4. Rory and Joe Fletch started to rebuild the innings and took the total to 105 when Rory having passed his half century was controversially adjudged LBW for 51 (7x4). Fletch with 24, Ayush 27 and Woody 34 helped us reach 185 all out in the 47th over.
In reply Harpo struck in his first over and when the dangerous Smith was caught by Belly off Woody we sniffed a faint hope of claiming a victory. This was not to be as McCann with a well deserved unbeaten century and former Hill Director of Cricket Kyle Coetzer with 53 not out saw the home side through to victory with ease.
NEPL 1st XI Scorecard v Chester le Street (a)
NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Chester le Street - Lost by 4 wickets
The 2's went down by 4 wickets to top of the table in an entertaining game at NBMS Denton Bank.
The Hill skipper Pete Jones won the toss and chose to bat, however Harsh Patel, Michael Maclauchlan and Aaron Wagh all fell early as we stumbled to 28 for 3, but a solid partnership between Abu Siddique and Jayem Patel steaded the ship before Jayem fell for 27 with the score at 99, Abu was next to fall for an excellent and patient 56. However it was left to old hand Andy Dawson with 49 not out off 30 balls to get the score board ticking adding some valuable runs with the lower order, we eventually posted 198 for 8 off the maximum 58 overs.
Chester's reply was rapid with all the top 3 posting scores of 40+, it was only the introduction of spin did the wickets begin to fall, however the early damage was terminal as the visitors surpassed our total for loss of 6 wickets in the 38th over. Pete Jones the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets, there was 1 each for Michael, Jayem and Harsh.
NEPL 2nd XI Scorecard v Chester le Street (h)
NTCL 3rd XI v South North (h @ Newbrough) - Won by 9 wickets - Captains Report by Chris Pounder
The NTCL 3’s returned to winning ways with an emphatic 9 wicket win over South North.
Not for the first time the skipper lost the toss and was asked to field first and we made early inroads with the wicket of Carr (1) and Wewalage (0) leaving South North 12/2. South North would dig in with a 3rd wicket stand of 76 between Alexander and Gudipati before Gudipati was the fist victim of two run outs by Hector for 23. Three quick wickets fell just 6 runs later with the score on 82 with Jamie getting his only wicket of the game bowling Mahaarachchi for 1 before Dave Walder got in on the act removing the dangerous Alexander for 44 caught and bowled then removing Mohammed for 0 lbw. Birstwhistle jnr. and Yound would take the score onto 102 before Birtwhistle (12) became victim number two of Hectors dead eye with the final wicket of the innings in’s going to Hasan Ahmed running out Young for 15. South North finishing 132/8 in their 40 overs.
We were just about perfect in the response. Some really mature batting by youngsters Seb Fletcher-Woods and Adam Hasan would virtually see us to the end unscathed. Adam (34) the one wicket to fall at 94 but Seb was the undoubted start of the show with an excellent 70 not out (8 x 4s and 4 x 6s, as he and Nav Safi with 16 not out would see us knock off their score in the 25th over.
A great win that moved us up to 8th and with a chance of finishing mid table, an excellent effort after a number of seasons battling to avoid the wood spoon at the bottom of the table.
NTCL 3rd XI Scorecard v South North (h)
