Scorecard

St Albans III v Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI on Sat 28 Jun 2025 at 01:00 PM
Northwood Town Cricket Club Won by 8 wickets

Match report Northwood Town Dominate St Albans in Commanding Win at Sandpit Lane

On a hot and clear day at Sandpit Lane, Northwood Town travelled to face St Albans in what turned out to be a statement performance. With the sun beating down on a green yet sluggish pitch, Town's skipper won the toss and made the decisive choice to bowl first – a decision that paid off handsomely.

Opening the attack were Deepak ‘Chameleon’ Raj and Jeet, who both kept things tight from the start. Their relentless accuracy offered no room for the St Albans openers to break free. The early pressure soon paid off – a miscommunication led to a skied chance that landed safely, but the striker was stranded halfway down the pitch. Northwood Town capitalised swiftly, registering their first wicket via a sharp run out.

Despite multiple plays and misses and plenty of near chances, wickets remained elusive initially. However, the tide turned with the introduction of the league’s top wicket-taker Jay, partnered by the debutant Aashir. Together, they turned the screws tighter. Jay was clinical, dismantling the stumps repeatedly, while Aashir swung the ball prodigiously, drawing edges and uncertainty from the batsmen.

From a steady 59/1, St Albans collapsed to 64/4, and soon after, 80/6. Their captain, batting at No. 3, tried to marshal the innings, but the relentless quality from Town’s bowlers gave little away. Any hope of a recovery was extinguished by K. Puwar, who ran through the tail with a jaw-dropping spell – 3 wickets in just 1.3 overs. St Albans were bundled out for a modest 116.

In reply, Town openers Jay and Bijendra began cautiously, absorbing the early pressure for the first two overs. But then, Bijendra strode out and turned the game into a batting exhibition. With brutal elegance, he dismantled the St Albans attack, scoring boundaries at will and driving the run rate up to 8 an over. The 50 came up in just 8 overs.

A rare false shot from Bijendra ended his knock as he drove one straight to cover. Harish joined Jay, who remained calm and calculated, punishing anything loose. Jay seemed set for a well-deserved fifty, but a misjudgement against the off-spinner saw his off-stump pegged back for a classy 43, with just 17 runs needed for victory.

Enter Deepak Raj. Channeling the same authority he showed with the ball, he sealed the match in style: 6, 4, 4, 4 – an emphatic end to a dominant display by Northwood Town.

A commanding performance from Town – clinical with the ball, composed with the bat, and clear in their intent from the first over to the last.

Skipper Shah’s Post-Match Words:
“NTCC bounced back in style after last week’s setback, showing true resilience and determination. I’ve always believed in the unity and strength of this team, and today they proved exactly why. Every player stepped up, and this was a total team effort.”

St Albans III Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 5w 2b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
11
116 (34.4 overs)		     
Ashish Dean b  J Patel 27 53 3 50.94
Debshali Sinha Roy run out  (H Janardhanan) 2 5 40.0
Zach West ct  C Cadman b A Rifat 39 54 4 72.22
Stuart Murray ct  K Puwar b A Rifat 0 3 0
James Lawrence ct  B Vaghela b J Patel 0 4 0
Adam Murphy b  J Patel 0 2 0
Tom Rayden ct  K Sudagaran b A Rifat 0 20 0
Thomas Banks b  K Puwar 9 35 2 25.71
Richard O'Toole Not Out  20 27 3 74.07
Joey Curran ct  K Sudagaran b K Puwar 8 7 1 114.29
Charles Smith b  K Puwar 0 1 0

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Deepak Raj8.013000.003.75
Jeet Rajani6.021700.002.83
Aashir Rifat8.022739.003.38
Jay Patel8.021836.002.25
Charlie Cadman3.001700.005.67
Krunal Puwar1.40431.332.40

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 4w 3lb 
for 2 wickets
8
118		        
Jay Patel b  A Murphy 43 48 10 89.58
Bijendra Vaghela ct  J Lawrence b T Banks 32 25 7 128.00 1
Harish Janardhanan Not Out  17 13 4 130.77
Deepak Raj Not Out  18 5 3 1 360.0
Tushar Shah  
Jeet Rajani  
Keeran Sudagaran   2
Krunal Puwar   1
Ravi Ramawat  
Charlie Cadman   1
Aashir Rifat  

St Albans III Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Joey Curran3.002100.007.00
Charles Smith4.002200.005.50
Richard O'Toole3.001900.006.33
Thomas Banks2.0119119.009.50
Adam Murphy2.0029129.0014.50
Zach West1.00500.005.00