Friday's deluge of rain, not only put pay to the opening set of fixtures in the Friday night 1st XI NEPL T20 competition, but also Saturday's NEPL leage fixture away to Eppleton, however there was better news with the 2nd XI game at home to Boldon and 3rd XI game at Riding Mill against Mitford going ahead.
At the Hill, the 2nd XI romped to a 10 wicket victory inside a few hours. Boldon were inserted and were skittled out for 82 in 31 overs, Tom Hastilow taking 4 for 23, Haroon Malik 2 for 18, Joe Torre 2 for 33 and Will Archbold 1 for 1. The Hill knocked off the score in the 10th over, Joe Moore 45 not out and Matty Hynd 21 not out. The result put the 2nd's top of the league after the opening six fixtures of the season, bravo!
The scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/division/95511
There was a nail biter at Riding Mill however, with the game in the balance all the way through. On a slow soft track the Hill won the toss and batted, struggling to 115 for 9 off their 40 overs. Andy Dawson with 46, Zain Ahmed with 21 and Rohan Aatif with 16, the only men to reach double figures.
Despite some tight bowling from youngsters Abu Siddique (3 for 30 off 8 overs), Owen Blackburn (1 for 23 off 6 overs), Matt Lockey (2 for 19 off 8 overs) and Shay Marley (1 for 13 off 3 overs), and veteran Chris Pounder (1 for 22 off 8 overs) Mitford staggered over the line with 2 wickets and a few overs to spare, largely thanks to an excellent 59 not out from opener Joss Parker.
The scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/4796785
On Sunday the NEPL 3rd XI youngsters recorded an excellent home victory over local rivals South North. The Hill won the toss and inserted the visitors. Despite an excellent 69 from youngster Alex Charnley, South North struggled to 165 for 6 off thier 40 overs. Old man Andy Jewitt the most senior bowler of the 6 used, once again the youngsters of Owen and Abu in the wickets, but there was also good spells from Shay Marley and Safiun Bhuiyan and Joe Fletcher, who took 2 for 27.
There was some impressive performances with the bat too, as the Hill chased down the South North total for the loss of 5 wickets in the 36th over. Opener Rohan Aatif continued his impressive start to the season with 37, Fardin Bhuiyan with 34 and skipper Joe Fletcher with 52 not out seeing us over the line.
The scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/4694564
