Scorecard

Broxbourne III v Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI on Sat 30 Jun 2012 at 1.00pm
Northwood Town Cricket Club Won by 6 wickets

Match report Northwood Town 2nd XI's trip to Broxbourne was touted as the 'acid test' to prove whether they could be considered genuine challengers for promotion to Division 8. This was a game which swung both ways but one in which Town superbly chased down 230 thanks largely to a stunning maiden century from Andy Burt as they proved their credentials in fine style.

Town lost the toss and were unsurprisingly asked to field on the usual flat road at Broxbourne's Mill Lane ground. New ball bowlers Neal Furmenger and Adam Hills (2/43 off 14 overs) bowled well in tandem and the hosts struggled to get the ball away. Hills struck twice in quick succession to remove both opening batsmen and Town were well on top. The pair bowled unchanged to drinks at which point the hosts had only scored 61. That continued to be the theme and at 40 overs the score was 108/3. Crucially though Broxbourne had wickets in hand and first Tristan Preston began to up the rate on his way to 70 and then Matty Scanlon found the boundary with regularity. Scanlon plundered 58 runs off just 36 balls as Town's good early work was undone. Scanlon was crucially dropped on the boundary by Hills and he was to push the hosts score to 230/6 off their 53 overs. The returning Nishil Mapara claimed 2/39 with some decent death bowling. The final 13 overs had produced 122 runs and the game was finely balanced at tea.

In recent weeks Town have struggled to chase a couple of below par scores and the top 6 had repeatedly failed. It was going to take an exceptional effort to chase down the total at just under 5 an over. Broxbourne elected to open with spin and the old ball. Openers Kunal Sanghi and Suvin Mekwan were given a couple of freebies which were readily dispatched to the boundary as Town scored 40 off the first six overs. When the new ball was taken, it did the trick as both fell in successive balls. You could almost sense the tension amongst the Town batsmen and one wondered if it was the proverbial 'squeaky bum time'.

However, the dismissals brought together skipper Ravi Ramawat and Andy Burt; two men in desperate need of runs following recent scores of 0 and 2 and 5 and 8 respectively. The pair battled well against the new ball and Broxbourne's strike bowlers Pegg and Stone. But the runs kept coming and Town pounced on any wayward bowling. Ramawat in particular refused to let the bowlers settle with some lusty (and sometimes 'unconventional') strokes. After 28 overs the pair had steered Town in sight of victory at 168/2 and when the skipper chipped to square leg to be dismissed for 62, the partnership had been worth a staggering 128.

Town continued to chip away at the total and Andy Burt crept towards his three figures. Burt's innings was virtually chance-less and he hit some stunning late cuts, cover drives and front foot drives to the mid-wicket boundary. It was a joy to watch and Burt brought up his maiden ton with another cut before taking the deserved applause from his teammates. The victory was completed shortly after and fittingly it was Burt who won it with another boundary to finish on an unbeaten 106.

The win moves Town up to 3rd place in the league. It is interesting to note also that Town have played the rest of the top 5 already this season. Another big game against Mill Hill Village awaits next weekend but Town should go into the game full of confidence. Congrats to Andy on his century and well done fellas for a cracking win.

Broxbourne III Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
8w 3b 5lb 
for 6 wickets
16
230 (53.0 overs)		     
S Fryer lbw  b Hills 14
C Willis ct  Sanghi b Hills 8
T Preston b  Mapara 70
J Pearce lbw  b Mekwan 22
B Oakes b  Mapara 30
M Scanlon Not Out  58
C Ridley run out  (Mapara) 9
W Pegg Not Out  3
P Davies  
C Stone  
P Close  

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Neal Furmenger14.024900.003.50
Adam Hills14.0643221.503.07
Sachin Dave10.005000.005.00
Suvin Mekwan9.0140140.004.44
Nishil Mapara6.0139219.506.50

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 10b 3lb 
for 4 wickets
15
233		        
Kunal Sanghi lbw  Davies 14 1 1 1
Suvin Mekwan ct  Stone b Davies 15 2 1
Ravi Ramawat ct  Pegg b Oakes 62 9 1
Andy Burt Not Out  106 15
Rishi Adatia lbw  b Oakes 17 3
Pradip Pandey Not Out  8 1
Ravi Kotecha  
Adam Hills  
Sachin Dave  
Nishil Mapara   1
Neal Furmenger  

Broxbourne III Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
P Davies5.011628.003.20
P Close3.002300.007.67
W Pegg8.003800.004.75
C Stone8.002900.003.63
M Scanlon4.002800.007.00
C Willis3.002500.008.33
B Oakes8.5134217.003.85
C Ridley5.001900.003.80