Scorecard

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI v Hatch End on Sat 07 Sep 2024 at 12:00 p.m.
Northwood Town Cricket Club Won by 63 runs

Match report Town welcomed Hatch End at home for the last league game of the season. For the record, the weather was the same for the 14th time out of 18 Saturdays this playing season - cold, windy, and damp, but thankfully the rain held off just enough to allow a game of cricket. Conditions were perfect for bowling first, and unfortunately, Town lost the toss again and were invited to bat first in challenging conditions.

Openers Gairola and Aggarwal started the innings with a different approach this time, being careful and waiting for the bad balls. Given the helpful conditions for the bowlers, both batsmen struggled to time the ball, which was evident in the partnership. Together, they scored 44 valuable runs before Gairola got out to a ball that nipped in sharply. This was the best partnership of the day. The rest of the Town batsmen tried very hard to stay on the pitch and tried to build some sort of partnership, without any sucess. Town kept losing wickets at regular intervals, with the only notable runs coming from the bats of S Patel and J Patel. Town finished their innings on 131 all out in 35.2 overs. Unfortunately, Town couldn’t even play their full allocated overs, a habit that has resurfaced lately and needs to be worked on for next season.

After a quick 20-minute break, Town took the field knowing that scoring would be equally difficult for the Hatch End batsmen. Both Hatch End batsmen came with a clear plan to hit every single delivery to make an early dent, often a very good strategy when chasing a small total. Town bowlers, especially P Patel, were quick to change their lengths and cleverly got both attacking batsmen out caught behind the stumps. The rest of the Hatch End batsmen came and went as every single Town bowler bowled to the script beautifully, not allowing any Hatch End batsman to settle. Puwar was again at his best, giving nothing away and making full use of the conditions. Gairola and DJ Smit got a wicket each to finish the Hatch End innings. In the end, Town won the game comfortably by a margin of 68 runs.

Although it was a comfortable win in the end, it again highlighted a minor issue that this team used to deal with 8 to 10 years ago: the inability to play the full allocated overs. However, as Town’s strength has been its bowling, the bowlers walked through the Hatch End innings like a park, making full use of the conditions. A perfect win to end a brilliant season.

Man of the Match: Pratik Patel for excellent bowling at the top.

As someone once said, in sports, you win some and you lose some, but what truly matters is how you play the game. I am incredibly proud of this team, not just for their performance on the field, but for the camaraderie and support we’ve built off the field. This season, we’ve shown resilience and teamwork, qualities that define great teams.

While it’s unfortunate that the overall league results didn’t go our way and we missed a well-deserved promotion by just 4 points, it’s clear to me that each one of you who played for the 2s this year played like true champions. You all deserve a pat on the back for your dedication and effort. Let’s take the lessons learned and come back stronger and better next year.

“If people are trying to bring you down, be proud of it. It only confirms that you are above them.”

Until we meet again...

#Onwards&Upwards

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 20w 3b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
26
131		        
Rahul Aggarwal ct b S Aly 18 47 1 38.30
Deepak Gairola b A hadi 29 40 3 72.50
Ravi Ramawat ct b S Aly 4 15 26.67
Cijine John b I Rahman 2 13 15.38
Jay Patel ct b M Sherman 14 22 2 63.64 1
Smit Patel ct H Davies 18 35 3 51.43
Tushar Shah Run out  7 13 53.85 2
Krunal Puwar b I Rahman 4 2 200
Rudra Shah ct I Rahman 6 1
Pratik Patel Not Out  3 1
Abhay Joshi lbw I Rahman 0

Hatch End Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
I Rahman7.202555.003.41
J Ajmal5.001800.003.60
A Hadi5.0115115.003.00
S Aly5.0026213.005.20
H Davies6.0016116.002.67
A Moiz2.001200.006.00
M Sherman4.0012112.003.00

Hatch End Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 9w 6b 3lb 
for 10 wickets
20
68 (26.5 overs)		     
A Hadi ct T Shah b P Patel 6
J Ajmal ct T Shah b P Patel 9
J Saggs ct R Shah b A Joshi 1
E Simeon b K Puwar 8
H Rhys ct & b P Patel 4
H Davies b R Shah 9
I Rahman ct J Patel b K Puwar 5
Q Saj b K Puwar 2
S Aly b D Gairola 3
M Ali b S Patel 0
M Sherman  

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Pratik Patel8.031535.001.88
Abhay Joshi4.0018118.004.50
Krunal Puwar8.031334.331.62
Rudra Shah5.0011111.002.20
Deepak Gairola1.01010.000.00
Smit Patel0.50111.001.20