Scorecard

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI v London Colney II on Sat 11 Aug 2012 at 1.00pm
Northwood Town Cricket Club Won by 7 wickets

Match report A man of the match performance from Adam Hills earned Northwood Town's 2nd XI a vital 30 points in their promotion push towards division 8. The result of the match might show that Town enjoyed a fairly routine win against the league's bottom side but in truth - Town were made to fight hard for the win and must improve their game if they are to reach their goal.

On a beautiful day at Chestnut Avenue, Ravi Ramawat won the toss and asked London Colney to bat first. The visitors only had 10 men and Town were in confident mood. It should have been a good start when Gibbons edged behind off Furmenger by Kunal Sanghi was unable to take the sharp chance. Adam Hills' introduction added some hostility to the Town attack but wickets were few and far between. Abdul Firfire and Pradip Pandey took two excellent catches off Furmenger and Khetia respectively but Colney pair Trevor Ray and Adam Stuart kept the scoreboard ticking. The run rate was below par but crucially, with wickets in hand - Colney were in a position to post a 200+ score.

Town had been in a similar position several times this season and it is their performance in the final 10-12 overs which has let them down. Toiling in the heat, heads went down, concentration went and the bowling and fielding was poor. Hills (2/38) returned to pick up a couple of wickets but Colney went on to post 220/4 off their 53 overs. Town went into tea in a despondant mood.

Town had already chased 200+ scores twice this season and on a wicket which was offering very little for the bowlers should have fancied themselves. But without top batsman Andy Burt, vice skipper Richard Robbins and with Suvin Mekwan carrying a knock it was going to be a big ask. When Mekwan chipped to square leg after just 4 balls that brought Adam Hills to the crease to join Jamie Cotton. Colney started with the old ball and two slow bowlers and Hills should have gone early on when he mistimed a drive to cover but Rouse dropped a routine chance, one which was to prove costly.

Hills began to smash the Colney attack all over the ground and whilst he rode his luck on several occasions with some more generous fielding, the scoreboard ticked over at a furious rate. At the other end, Cotton batted in his usual unflustered manner and looked rarely troubled before his got a leading edge and looped a catch back to Ray for 34. Hills and Cotton's partnership had been worth 156 off 27 overs. Kunal Sanghi came to the crease to join Hills and the story continued. Hills brought up his second century for Town with a single to the covers before smashing three consecutive huge sixes and the winning total was soon in sight. Sanghi chipped to midwicket for 20 and it was Pradip Pandey was joined Hills to see Town over the line in the 37th over.

Hills' knock was worth an unbeaten 142 and included 17 fours and eight maximums. Colney were left to the rue the missed chances but Town were happy to have come out of the game unscathed. A trip to Hoddesdon awaits next week and Town will need to improve to ensure they don't come unstuck during their final games.

London Colney II Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
12w 32b 5lb 
for 4 wickets
49
220 (53.0 overs)		     
T Ray b  Hills 53
J Gibbons ct  Firfire b Furmenger 21
C Edwards ct  Pandey b Khetia 29
A Stuart Not Out  52
P Hadley b  Hills 15
D Hadley Not Out  1
M Newland  
S Rouse  
S Maclan  
J Ray  
   

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Neal Furmenger22.0466166.003.00
Shahmir Syed11.024200.003.82
Adam Hills14.0438219.002.71
Kunal Sanghi3.001800.006.00
Sumeet Khetia2.0011111.005.50
Abdul Firfire1.001300.0013.00

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
7w 13b 3lb 
for 3 wickets
23
223		        
Suvin Mekwan ct  P Hadley b T Ray 0
Jamie Cotton ct  & b T Ray 34 4
Adam Hills Not Out  142 17 8
Kunal Sanghi ct  D Hadley b J Ray 20 1
Pradip Pandey Not Out  4 1 1
Ravi Ramawat  
Ravi Kotecha  
Abdul Firfire   1
Sumeet Khetia  
Shahmir Syed  
Neal Furmenger  

London Colney II Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
T Ray13.0463231.504.85
D Hadley5.003300.006.60
S Maclan8.004000.005.00
M Newland4.002600.006.50
P Hadley4.504500.009.31
J Ray2.00414.002.00