Scorecard

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI v Ampthill Town II on Sat 02 Jun 2012 at 1.00pm
Northwood Town Cricket Club Lost By 4 wickets

Match report So far winless this season, and with regular skipper David Bushnell absent through injury, Northwood Town's 1st XI and stand-in captain Michael Lister had a tough task on their hands against an experienced Ampthill Town side.

With Northwood Town having won the toss and opted to bat, a re-energised Akshay Loomba (36) and the experienced Raj Ahluwalia (40) showed great skill and application to combine for a faultless opening partnership of 70 off 19 overs. Having moved Northwood Town into a commanding position, both openers fell in quick succession and then the middle order showed little resistance as the spin of Degnan, Clark (6-56) and Pullin drew plenty of success by bowling disciplined lines on a wicket with some variable bounce.

With Northwood Town in danger of throwing away a rare good start, Veer Vadgama (30) came to the crease and showed character and maturity in forging useful 20+ partnerships with first Doling and then Newman as Northwood Town entered bonus point territory and climbed towards a competitive total. Enter Viraj Manek, another of Northwood Town's promising youngsters, who took the initiative away from Ampthill in the last few overs with a quickfire 18 not out, which included a huge six over long on, as Northwood Town finished on 176.

In Ampthill's reply, Doling (3-56) led the way as he took apart the top order with a typical display of accuracy and guile which had Amptill reeling on 28 for 3 off 9 overs. Ampthill managed to stabilise the innings and pushed on steadily towards three figures as Northwood Town continued to chip away with wickets.

With 7 overs remaining and 44 runs still required, the pressure remained firmly on the batsmen as wicketkeeper Neil Cheesewright continued to set the standard in the field and Dom Whyley impressed during a long spell of accurate swing bowling. However, despite the ball frequently going skywards, it kept landing safe to the disbelief of the fielding side and the partnership between Clark and Degnan turned out to be just enough to enable Ampthill Town to scrape home with four balls to spare.

Nevertheless, the game was played in an excellent spirit and stand-in skipper Michael Lister was pleased with the team's effort: "Every player gave his all today and we can't ask for any more that. The attitude was fantastic and the bowlers worked their socks off but we just didn't manage to break the key partnership in the end. Their spinners did all the damage when we were batting and we could have really used a spin option, but we can't be downbeat. A number of players can take some confidence into next week's game."

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 1w 7b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
11
176		        
Akshay Loomba ct b Degnan 36 5 1
Raj Ahluwalia ct b Clark 40 6 1
Jamie Cotton ct b Pullin 5 1
Michael Lister b b Clark 5 1 2
Andy Burt lbw b Pullin 0
Veer Vadgama ct b Sharpe 30 4
Richard Doling ct b Clark 13 3 1
Craig Newman ct b Clark 14 2
Neil Cheesewright ct b Clark 2
Viraj Manek Not Out  18 2 1 1
Dominic Whyley lbw b Clark 0 1

Ampthill Town II Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Sharpe9.0226126.002.89
Meshram6.001700.002.83
Degnan7.0026126.003.71
Clark20.035669.332.80
Pullin10.0143221.504.30

Ampthill Town II Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
9w 4b 2lb 
for 6 wickets
15
177 (47.2 overs)		     
Farley ct Manek b Doling 2
Howson ct Lister b Vadgama 43
Draycott ct & b Doling 5
Passman ct Whyley b Doling 0
Degnan T ct Loomba b Manek 12
Clark ct Lister b Whyley 46
Degnan J Not Out  34
Haxell Not Out  12
   
   
   

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Veer Vadgama12.0259159.004.92
Richard Doling18.2156318.673.05
Dominic Whyley12.0525125.002.08
Viraj Manek4.0121121.005.25
Raj Ahluwalia1.001100.0011.00