The 1st's returned to NBMS Denton Bank after two wins on the road, and kept the run going in a low scoring game against Eppleton, however the 2nd's and NTCL 3rd's fell to defeat against Chester le Street and Haltwhistle respectively, however the NEPL Sunday 3rd's kept up their good run with a great win against Sacriston, read on for all the info.
NEPL Division 1 - 1st XI v Eppleton (h) - Won by 4 wicket - Match Report by Phil Haves
A hard fought 3rd consecutive victory kept our recent good form going and was ultimately good enough to ensure we ended the weekend top of, an albeit congested Division.
Max stood in at the toss for Belly who was delayed due to travel issues and asked Eppleton to have a bat having won the toss.
Callum and Winnie were once again entrusted with the new ball and quickly reduced the visitors to 23/2 dismissing both openers with a wicket apiece. Visitors skipper, the dangerous Dean Musther was bowled by TK as the third wicket fell with the score on 53. The away side’s Pro, Da Silva along with Steel added 48 before Max dismissed both in quick succession and then bowled Pratt as Eppleton slipped to 121/6. Lee got in on the act as he removed Khan and Ebdale before Max claimed the last 2 wickets to finish with 5/33 as the visitors succumbed to 145 all out. Lee with 2 and Callum, Winnie and TK with 1 each were the other wicket takers.
Set 146 to win Rory started as he had done for the previous 2 weeks by finding the boundary with the first ball of the innings. Another solid start saw us reach 37 before Belly was dismissed, stumped off the visitors Professional for 19. Rory was the 2nd stumping of the innings as he fell for 22 and when Jayam was dismissed without scoring were we 3 down for only 48. TK and Adam progressed the score to 91 when Adam holed out for 18. This became 98/5 as Abu was caught for 3. Batting at 7 Nicko hit 3 boundaries in a quick fire 16 before he was adjudged LBW with the score on 117. This was to be the last success for the visitors as TK made an unbeaten 54 and Max finished 10 not out as we crossed the line to win by 4 wickets
We are on the road again this coming Saturday with a trip up the valley to Hexham to face Tynedale looking to continue our excellent recent form and consolidate our position at the top of the Division.
1st XI NEPL Scorecard v Eppleton (h)
NEPL Division 2 - 2nd XI v Chester le Street (a)
On a bright and sunny afternoon, Benwell Hill 2nd XI faced Chester-le-Street 2nd XI in a testing league fixture. Chester-le-Street won the toss and opted to bat first, putting together a solid team effort to post 240 runs from their full quota of 50 overs.
Benwell Hill’s bowling attack had to work hard in warm conditions, with Aaron leading the charge. His excellent spell earned him four wickets while hinrsble mentions to Ayush and Gabe for keeping things steady. Despite the pressure, Chester’s batters managed to construct partnerships and finish with a competitive total.
Chasing 241 for victory, Benwell Hill’s innings never quite got going. Early wickets left the side on the back foot, but Andy Dawson and Michael showed admirable resistance in the middle order. Dawson top-scored with a composed 44, anchoring the innings and battling hard against tight bowling. Michael partnered him well, and together they put up a good fight, attempting to rebuild the chase and bring the game back within reach.
However, once their stand was broken, the remaining batters struggled to keep up with the required rate, and Benwell Hill were eventually bowled out for 147, falling 93 runs short.
Despite the loss, there were positives to take: Aaron’s incisive spell with the ball and the resistance shown by Daws and Michael with the bat. The team will look to build on these performances in the matches to come.
2nd XI NEPL Scorecard v Chester le Street (a)
NTCL Division 5 West - 3rd XI v Haltwhistle (a)
The NTCL 3’s were well beaten on Saturday when they headed up the A69 to Haltwhistle.
On a day of rain breaks and and breakdowns the skipper won the toss and inserted the hosts. An early break through for Nick Walder removing Michael Parker caught and bowled without scoring 1-1 was followed by a first senior wicket for James Roe removng Birkett for 4 with the score on 12.
A 26 run partnership would then see Connelly next to fall for 7 bowled by Jamie Fletcher-Woods with Barker falling in the same way again to Jamie leaving the score 45/4 before another partnership between Thomson and Leadbitter would take Halty on to 101 when Leadbitter would fall lbw to James Walder for 27. Thomson would eventually be dismissed by James Walder, stumped by Dave Haxon for 45 (113-6.)
Halty would have a 40 run partnership between skipper Callum Snowdon and Darryl Thompson the latter the next to fall to the returning Nick Walder for 10 (153-7) before Nick removed Snowdon for 46 and Lewis Wright first ball to grab 4 wickets in the game. Halty finished the innings on 183/9.
A big shout out two two under 11’s Thomas Walder and Joseph Haxon who helped out in the field and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and certainly didn’t look phased
With the closure of the first innings, the 10 men became 9 as Kaush Haliyadde had broken down on the way to the game and by the time the AA had arrived the first innings was complete and he was unable to play.In reply we opened with Aayan and Ramin and lost Aayan and James Walder without scoring and Ramin (10) had 3’s 3 down for before James Roe and Dave Haxon took 3’s from 14-3 to 49 before the next wicket fell James out for 16. Jamie and Hax would move the score along to 69 before Jamie was bowled by Leadbitter for 6 to bring the skipper to the crease. Going well on 35 Hax would be next to fall to Leadbitter and the writing was on the wall for a depleted 3rd XI.
Nick Walder (4) and Jason Mellor (1) were the last wickets to fall and Halty won by 101 runs
3rd XL NTCL Scorecard v Haltwhistle (a)
NEPL Sunday Division 1- 3rd XI v Sacriston (h)
The NEPL 3rd team returned to Denton bank against a Sacriston side who beat them in the return fixture. We won the toss and elected to bat on a windy day at the Hill.
Liam and Fergus opened and added 58 before Fergus was bowled 24. Ayush departed first ball and Liam soon after for 26 leaving us 71 for 3. Ramin and Aaron contined the positive play and added 78 before Ramin was out for 34, Aaron followed quickly for 42. Rohaan went on the offensive and hit a quick 56 not out from 34 to take us to a very competitive 238 for 6 from 40.
Sacriston lost both openers early to Gabriel and Michael but looked to be going well at 83 for 3. The introduction of spin changed the momentum as Aaron 3 for 29 and Ayush 4 for 7 took the next 7 wickets for only 10 runs leaving Sacriston 93 all out in 21.5 overs.
A good win for the 3rd team leaving them in a strong position to push on in the last 4 fixtures.
Sunday 3rd XI NEPL Scorecard v Sacriston (h)
