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Hampstead’s Brandon Buckley |
Buckley’s first big hit for 63
Middlesex County Cricket League
Division One
Hampstead 133-7
Teddington 132 ao
KEY batsman Brandon Buckley got his first real big hit of the season on Saturday to help Hampstead take maximum points from their testing away game against Teddington.
With the visitors chasing a target of just 133 for victory, Buckley put in a confident display to record a knock of 63 off 140 balls, including seven fours and a mighty six.
An additional 19 runs from Paul Weekes also proved vital as Hampstead sealed a stuttering three-wicket victory with a score of 133-7 off 43.3 overs.
A strong team performance in the field had earlier given Hampstead the perfect platform on which to build their eventual success.
Leo Smith ended an impressive bowling display with three wickets for just 26 runs, while team-mate Zac Khan also caught the eye as he finished with 3-58.
Weekes and Dexter Thomas chipped in with two wickets apiece as Hampstead dismissed Teddington for 132 in 46 overs.
Division Two
Brentham 250-7
North London 146 ao
South Hampstead 232-7 dec
Southgate 234-4
NORTH London continued their disappointing start to the season on Saturday, suffering their third defeat in four games.
The struggling side were consigned to a 104-run defeat after managing just 146 in reply to Brentham’s score of 250-7.
South Hampstead could also find themselves in a relegation battle following their six-wicket defeat away against Southgate.
South Hampstead, who have failed to win any of their opening four games, were unlucky not to take something from Saturday’s high-scoring encounter against the league leaders.
A tidy knock of 79 from James Williams, accompanied by 58 not out from Paul Atherley and 42 from Zeeshan Sialvi, saw the visitors declare on 232-7 off 54 overs.
Southgate’s Tom Allan, however, stole the show with a mighty knock of 128 to lead his side to a winning score of 234-4.
North Middlesex 177-9
Enfield 212 ao
NORTH Middlesex returned home with a point on Saturday following their tough trip to Enfield.
Visiting captain Alex Hill won the toss and chose to bowl first, but with an incredibly fast outfield the Enfield openers found the boundary ropes with relative ease.
Impressive bowling from both James Nightingale and Will Wootton, however, was soon rewarded. Nightingale removed Anthony Heraghty for four with an inside edge to the keeper, before Wootton took 2-35 to reduce Enfield to 30-3.
Nightingale soon struck again to dismiss John Allen as the hosts struggled to cope with the accuracy of the North Middlesex attack.
A patient partnership between Neil Shrimpton and Biju Menon got Enfield back on track, scoring 76 and 36 runs respectively to give the home side renewed hope of victory.
Patrick Blair added a further knock of 42 as Enfield climbed to 212 off 54.1 overs before Maxwell Creese made a final catch to end their innings.
Nightingale and Ben Honour were the pick of the North Middlesex bowlers with three wickets each, while skipper Hill ended the innings with six catches to his name.
Confident that a couple of partnerships on a good batting track would see them home, North Midd got their reply underway. But any hopes were soon dashed as the Enfield bowlers limited the scoring opportunities.
Hill completed a good all round performance with a solid 47, a rare highlight for the visitors, who slumped to 45-4 off 15 overs.
An instrumental partnership between Will Nicoll and Matt Drew, who hit scores of 47 and 38 respectively, helped North Middlesex avoid defeat. In the end, the struggling side hung on for a point after finishing play on 177-9.
Division Three
Highgate 238-5 dec
Bessborough 199 ao
ZAC Curtis led Highgate to their first victory of the season on Saturday against Bessborough at Shepherd’s Cot.
Skipper Craig Gourlay lost the toss and saw his charges put into bat first in the baking Highgate sunshine. Openers James Warburton and Leigh Wooldridge quickly took advantage of a fast outfield and some mediocre fair from the Bessborough attack. Both batsmen found the boundary at regular intervals, and rotated the strike intelligently, as they posted their first half-centuries of the season.
Warburton finally fell for 57 while Wooldridge ended his innings a point behind on 56.
Overseas star Curtis immediately picked up the pace and, scoring a run a ball from the start, went on to add 79 not out as Highgate raced to 238-5 off 50 overs before declaring.
Tony Duckett and Andrew Browne opened up with the ball for Highgate without much joy as the visitors raced to 80-1 off just 12 overs.
Gourlay and Dave Benton eventually settled in with their respective brands of spin, and gradually winkled out one batsmen after another.
The two combined well to take seven wickets between them as Bessborough fell 40 runs short of their target on 199 to hand Highgate all 10 points. |
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