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Weekes fires first victory
Middlesex County Cricket League
Division One
Hampstead 224-8, Finchley 188 All Out
PAUL Weekes led Hampstead to their first victory of the season on Saturday with a barnstorming display away at rivals Finchley.
Having been put into bat first, Weekes top scored for the visitors with a patient knock of 67 not out. With team-mates Mohammed Akhtar and Brandon Buckley adding scores of 62 and 48 respectively, Hampstead finished their 66 overs on 224-8.
Weekes proved just as lethal with the ball as he tore through the Finchley batting order. The off-spinner claimed 6-49 as Finchley were restricted to 188 all out, handing Hampstead a 36-run win.
Flowers and Semper heroics clinch match
Division Two
North Middlesex 163-4, Harrow 161 AO
NORTH Middlesex notched a second successive win on Saturday with a comfortable six-wicket triumph in a rain-affected match at Harrow.
Evan Flowers starred for the visitors with an unbeaten 83, while Jaron Semper showed his all-round skills with a match-winning 3-18 from 17 overs and a rapid 44 with the bat.
North Middlesex had the better of the conditions throughout the afternoon after captain Alex Hill won the toss and chose to field. It proved the right decision as the giant James Nightingale and Will Wootton made early inroads. Nightingale sent opener Wasim Aslam’s off-stump cart-wheeling and then removed the dangerous Dave Walker and Luke Quinlivan, while Wootton did well to remove Waqas Hussain.
Semper and Gareth Davies replaced the opening attack, and combined well to finish off Harrow for just 161 off 51.3 overs.
Semper then teamed up with Flowers to help make light work of their chasing target, leading North Midd to a winning score of 163-4 off 33.2 overs.
North London 134 AO, Twickenham 97 AO
NORTH London got their campaign off and running with a low-scoring home victory over Twickenham on Saturday.
A well-crafted half-century from Patrick Mills was a rare highlight for the home side as they managed 134 off 45.2 overs before the fall of their final wicket.
Despite setting such a low target, North London managed to seal a 37-run victory as they dismissed Twickenham for just 97 off 32.2 overs.
South Hampstead 228-9 Dec, Acton 161-8
South Hampstead are still awaiting their first win of the season after being held to a draw in their home match against Acton.
The hosts looked to be well on their way to victory when they declared on 228-9 after a patient 52-over spell. Acton, however, managed to hold out until the close of the play to finish on 161-8 off 42 overs, handing South Hampstead a four-point winning-draw courtesy of their higher run-rate.
Lacklustre bats let down Highgate
Division Three
Barnes 197-9, Highgate 99 AO
HIGHGATE failed to build on last week’s encouraging draw against Wembley on Saturday when they slumped to a 98-run home defeat.
With heavy rain during the week, and Highgate still in the process of pulling together some covers, a wet and muddy looking track at Shepherd’s Cot suggested a low-scoring affair with bowlers expected to dominate.
With this in mind, Highgate skipper Craig Gourlay won the toss and immediately put Barnes into bat.
The home side, however, were denied an early breakthrough as bowlers Tony Duckett and Phil Brown were frustrated by the Barnes openers.
After 40 overs Barnes were still setting a commanding pace as they climbed to 150-2. But as the visitors looked to accelerate, Aussie talisman Andrew Browne took centre stage as he took 5-25 off six overs.
Supported by Gourlay who claimed three more wickets, Barnes were dismissed for 197 off 51 overs.
Highgate’s hopes were soon dashed as Barnes made the most of the conditions to dismiss openers James Warburton and Jake Sharland for a combined effort of just 16 runs.
It never really got any better for Highgate, with Gourlay top scoring with a personal best of 23.
In the end, the home side managed just 99 with a sub-standard batting display, handing Barnes a comfortable win. |
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