The Hill recorded 3 wins out of 4 league games over the weekend, with the 2nd XI and NTCL 3rd XI winning their first games of the season, the NEPL Sunday 3rd XI made it 2 out of 2, however the 1st XI's unbeaten league run came to an alarming end when they were hammered by Lanchester, read on for all the info,
NEPL Division 1 - 1st XI v Lanchester (a)- Lost by 199 runs - Match Report by Phil Haves
Saturday proved a day to forget as we fell to a disappointing and heavy first defeat of the season at Lanchester.
In the absence of Belly, Max took the reins and having won the toss asked the home side to have a bat. Callum took 2 early wickets as Lanchester slumped to 3/2 but that was about as good as it got for the beleaguered bowling attack as they were bludgeoned all around the ground by the home sides South African batter Reuben Du Toit in a high quality powerful innings of 184 off 109 balls with 26x4s and 4x6s. It was a quite brilliant knock which took the Lanchester total almost single handedly to 265. Of the bowlers only Lee who bowled his 9 overs for a miserly 29 escaped punishment and it was a harsh welcome to North East cricket for Tharindu who was despatched for 60 in 7 overs although he did manage to pick up 3 wickets. Callum with 3, Max 2, Sam and Warren were the other wicket takers.
The run chase started just as we didn’t want with our 2 inform batters, Pete and Adam, both dismissed inside 4 overs and although Rory reached 21 before being dismissed wickets fell regularly and we succumbed tamely to 66 all out.
A very poor day at the office sums up Saturday however we go again next weekend when newly promoted Newcastle City visit NBMS Denton Bank.
1st XI NEPL Scorecard v Lanchester (a)
NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Ashington (h) - Won by 5 wickets - Pete Jones Captains Report
Pleased to report a strong all-round team performance as The Hill came away with a 5-wicket win in what was a competitive and hard-fought 45-over game.
We lost the toss and were asked to field first on a flat wicket. The lads responded well despite a solid start from their top order. Our bowling unit worked hard to build pressure, and while they got to 206 for 9, I felt we managed the innings well. Special mention has to go to Michael Maclauchlan, who bowled with excellent control and variation to pick up 4 wickets, finishing with figures of 9-0-49-4. Jayam Patel and Aaron Armstrong each grabbed a key wicket, and the fielding effort was sharp—Ayush’s run-out to remove their opener set the tone early on.
Chasing 207, we knew we had to bat smartly. Prahalad Nadella and Fergus Wallace gave us just that with a composed opening stand. Fergus batted beautifully for his 70, timing the ball sweetly and giving us the platform we needed. After his dismissal, Jayam Patel and Abubaker Siddique steadied things, and Abu saw it through with a classy, unbeaten 50. His composure under pressure was superb, and he guided us home in the 44th over.
It was great to see contributions across the board—every player played a part. Credit to the opposition for making it a real contest, particularly with the ball during the middle overs, but I’m proud of how we stuck to our plan and finished the job.
On to the next one. Well done, lads!
2nd XI NEPL Scorecard v Ashington (h)
NTCL Divison 5 West - 3rd XI v Blaydon 2nd XI (h) - Won by 5 wickets - Chris Pounder's Captains Report
The NTCL 3’s won their first game of the season on Saturday beating Blaydon 2’s by 40 runs thanks to some fantastic contributions from some new blood and a couple of junior cricketers.
Having lost the toss and being asked to bat first the Hill lost an early wicket with Davey Ladd LBW for 1 with the score on 5. Harsh Patel would join Rash Shad in the middle taking the score on to 48 before Harsh was caught for 18.
Dave Haxon would be next to join Rash taking us on to 80 before he was caught at cover for 13. Ilahi Maleek was next and out early without scoring leaving us 4 down with 85 on the board.
Aayan Munzir joined Rash for a brief 15 run partnership before Rash was bowled for 27, Laura would be next to go for 1 before Aayan and Freddie Mexter would put on a partnership of 87 for the 7th wicket with Freddie hitting 50 from 42 balls including 7 fours and 2 sixes. A fantastic performance from the U15 on debut.
Freddie would be the next wicket to fall bowled for 50 with Sai Patel joining him back in the clubhouse without scoring. Sai would be the last wicket to fall as Aayan (57 not out) and Seb Fletcher-Woods (20 not out) would see us through the 40 overs reaching 235.
In reply Blaydon would finish 195 all out thanks mainly to Ilahi Maleek with figures of 5/53 from 8.4 including a very important catch from the bowling of Sai Patel removing the dangerous Charley Stanger for 72.
Another big part of the win was the performance behind the stumps by Laura Pearson. Blaydon conceded 48 extras with 31 byes. The hill conceded 7 extras with only 3 byes. A very important contribution..
3rd XI NTCL Scorecard v Blaydon II (h)
NEPL Sunday Division 1 - 3rd XI v Philadelphia (h) - Won by 7 wickets - Matty Hynd's Captains Report
The NEPL 3rd team looked to build on the previous weeks win by taking on philadelphia at home on a very cold Sunday.
Philadelphia won the tossband elected to bat on a used wicket at the Hill. Philadelphia started positively against some tight bowling from the Hill. However boundaries and wickets flowed in equal measure. Taylor Matthews bowled his 8 through taking 2-36. The juniors then made up the other bowling options and had to be juggled accordingly with their restrictions. All performing well with Gabriel Mellor 2-24, Ayush Chakraborthy 4-35 and Sai Patel 1-29 picking up the remaining wickets. Philadelphia ended on a competitive 196/9 in their 40 overs.
The Hill lost openers Ahmed and Shad to McQueen leaving the Hill 40 for 2. Ayush Chakraborthy and skipper Matt Hynd rebuilt the innings and kept the board ticking over and put on 122 for the 3rd wicket before Matt Hynd was out for 62. Ayush Chakraborthy passed his maiden senior 50 and with Liam Hynd (7 not out) saw the team home with 2 balls left and Ayush ending 84 not out.
A good match played in very cold conditions ended with the Hill picking up 24 out of the possible 25 points.
3rd XI NEPL Sunday scorecard v Philadelphia (h)
