Scorecard

Harpenden Dolphins v Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI on Sat 02 Jun 2012 at 1.00pm
Northwood Town Cricket Club Won by 6 wickets

Match report Northwood Town's second string picked up their third win of the season to move up to 4th place in Division Nine of the Herts League. Neal Furmenger starred with the ball for Town as he snared 7 wickets as Town comfortably beat Harpenden Dolphins by 6 wickets.

Town travelled to Harpenden on the back of an excellent win over table-topping Baldock the previous week and skipper Rami Ramawat stressed the importance of Town following up and showing some consistency. They arrived at Rothamsted Park to be greeted by a drab outfield with a flat but green wicket. On winning the toss, Ramawat had no hesitation in asking the hosts to bat first. Furmenger and Shahmeer Syed took the new ball and it was clear from the first ball the decision to field first was a good one. The wicket offered pace and bounce for the bowlers and Furmenger struck twice early on with Kunal Sanghi taking two good catches behind the stumps.

Syed wasn't to be outdone with a couple of wickets of his own, including the important wicket of Dolphins captain Roche (a superb full length catch by Adam Hills in the cover) - and the hosts were rocking at 32/5 off 20 overs. Hills himself was somewhat unlucky not to pick up any wickets from his six overs but Furmenger continued to hold down one end and take wickets at regular intervals. Amit Mathur proved to be the only home batsman to provide some real stability and he batted well for 33 not out while Schalk Van der Merwe offered some brief fireworks before he was superbly caught by Suvin Mekwan on the boundary. But Furmenger wrapped up the tail as Harpenden struggled their way to 94 all out. Furmenger finished with superb figures of 7-37 off 19.4 overs.

In reply Town got off to an excellent start with Kunal Sanghi looking in great nick. Despite losing Bobby Graham cheaply, Town raced to 33/1 at tea and brought up the 50 off 10 overs. Sanghi continued to be the aggressor with some fine cover drives but Town suffered a minor setback when 53/1 became 70/4 as Sanghi departed for 45 (7x4), while Ramawat and Mekwan went cheaply. It was left to Pradip Pandey and Adam Hills to guide Town home with the latter winning the game in style with a huge six hooked to fine leg.

A quarter of the way through the season now and Town have had a very decent startn. After several years fighting against relegation this is a welcome change. Town have recorded wins over some decent sides and are yet to play any of the sides towards the bottom. If they can continue to show this form and the support bowlers find some consistency, Town could be in for a prosperous season. A tough home game against Old Owens awaits next weekend. Can Town make it three on the spin?

Harpenden Dolphins Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1w 3lb 
for 10 wickets
4
94 (37.4 overs)		     
R Gull ct  Sanghi b Furmenger 1
A Rayner ct  Sanghi b Furmenger 2
J Guest b  Syed 1
P Bonney ct  Pandey b Furmenger 11
T Roche ct  Hills b Syed 16
A Mathur Not Out  33
D Lewis lbw  b Furmenger 8
J Ball ct  Pandey b Furmenger 3
S Van der Merwe ct  Mekwan b Furmenger 11
W Gull st  Sanghi b Dave 0
G Downes ct  Ramawat b Furmenger 5

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Shahmir Syed10.041829.001.80
Neal Furmenger19.473775.291.88
Adam Hills6.002100.003.50
Sajid Shafique Malik2.001000.005.00
Sachin Dave1.00515.005.00

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
6nb 16b 2lb 
for 4 wickets
24
96		        
Kunal Sanghi ct  Bonney b Ball 45 7 2 1
Bobby Graham lbw  b Roche 2
Ravi Ramawat ct  Lewis b Roche 7 1 1
Pradip Pandey Not Out  9 2 2
Suvin Mekwan ct  Rayner b Downes 0 1
Adam Hills Not Out  11 1 1 1
Sachin Dave  
Richard Robbins  
Sajid Shafique Malik  
Shahmir Syed  
Neal Furmenger  

Harpenden Dolphins Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
S Van der Merwe2.502000.007.06
J Guest9.022400.002.67
T Roche7.0023211.503.29
J Ball2.01414.002.00
G Downes2.00919.004.50