Scorecard

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI v Watford Town CC 2nd XI on Sat 28 Jun 2025 at 12:00
Northwood Town Cricket Club Won by 116 runs

Match report Town welcomed Watford Town II at home, aiming to make it 8 wins in 8 games. Captain Anjum won the toss and decided, “Let’s bat first, lads!”

Loomba and Gairola opened the innings. From the very first over, it was clear the pitch had split personality disorder – nne end was so low, you almost had to crouch to stand on it, the other was bouncing like a trampoline. Still, Town started slow and careful. Gairola, usually all fire and fury, kept finding fielders like they were magnets. Loomba smacked a few early boundaries and looked comfy – until he got out to a peach of a delivery. He claimed even Kohli would’ve got out to that one, though someone should remind him Kohli retired from Tests. Maybe Loomba should consider it too if the form doesn’t come back soon. Soon after, Gairola followed him back, and Town were 50/2. Enter Madhavan – a.k.a. Fireman Sam – here to save the day yet again. He and Han began punishing any bad balls and stitched together a lovely partnership. Han, who’s been as out of form as an expired sandwich, decided today was the day to remind everyone that class is permanent. He hit some beautiful drives and sweeps, while Madhavan was wristy as ever, and Town reached 113 after 32 overs. But of course, just as things were looking good, Town did what Town do – collapse! Han and Madhavan both got out, and S Patel – who clearly doesn’t believe in scoring runs this season – fell to a sharp catch. Then came Bahl, who is still trying to hit a ball to the moon. He tried again. He failed. Again. VC Patel joined, played 3 balls, and walked off. Town were 140/7 and in deep trouble.

But Town bats deep – or at least that’s what they tell themselves. Rajani came in at number 9 and held up one end, while skipper Anjum decided to transform into a fitter and version of his VC and went berserk. The two added 48 runs in 9 overs – Rajani contributed 6 of those, and Anjum the rest. Suddenly, the scoreboard zoomed to 180. Rajani finally got out trying to hit one to Narnia. Malik walked in – still chasing his personal “most not outs” challenge with Madhavan. By now, Anjum was in full PSL mode. He smacked 13 fours and a monster six, raced to 74* off 49 balls, and dragged Town to a total of 232/8 from 50 overs. Honestly, it was one of the best innings Town has seen in years. Words can’t do justice to how great that inning was from the skipper.

Town came out to bowl determined not to waste the skipper’s effort. Opening pair Shah and Malik bowled with tight lines – like they’d used a ruler. But then came the moment of the day. In Shah’s third over, vice-captain Patel, fielding at point, chased the ball like he was in a Champions League final playing for Liverpool. He became Town’s number 11 — and some say that’s where he belongs in the batting order too. He stopped the ball with his left foot, flicked it with his right, and booted it straight to the boundary. Salah? Not quite. It was Krunal “Boot It” Patel. He connected so cleanly, even Usain Bolt couldn’t have stopped that ball from reaching the rope. Sadly, that was Watford’s only exciting moment. Shah bowled well but got no wickets, while Malik kept shining and picked up two. Then came the double change – in came the skipper and the VC. But VC Patel started bowling pies. Not the delicious kind. The rubbish kind. Loomba looked disappointed, not at the bowling, but because there were no actual pies. One of Watford’s overseas players, Pulla, looked at the bowling and asked, “Who is Krunal Patel? I saw his stats online. He’s good!” Poor guy didn’t know what he was watching live was the budget version. Back to business – Anjum came to the rescue again. This time with the ball. He tore through the Watford batting line-up like Loomba goes through a Wenzel’s bakery bag. He grabbed 6 wickets for just 26 runs in 10 overs, including 2 maidens. Absolute scenes. Madhavan and Rajani finished the job, and Town sealed a huge win by 116 runs – their 8th in a row, making club history!

Post-Match Interview – Skipper Anjum Speaks
On the pitch: “It wasn’t easy to bat, but we got a solid score in the end.”
On his batting: “Yeah, happy to contribute! Their heads dropped and they started feeding pies like I was at a buffet.”
On his bowling: “Finally got some wickets! Just kept it simple – bowled at the stumps. Hopefully, the VC was watching and taking notes!”

Next up, Town heads to Broxbourne, hoping to keep the unbeaten streak alive. One thing’s for sure – with Anjum in this form, Broxbourne better watch out.

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 5w 1b 1lb 
for 8 wickets
11
232		        
Akshay Loomba ct b Imran 13 3
Deepak Gairola ct b Naghman 23 3 1
James Han b Naghman 41 6 1
Nischay Madhavan lbw Hazarika 30 3 1
Sangeet Patel ct b Ali 9 1 1
Rohit Bahl ct b Hazarika 9 2
Iqbal Anjum Not Out  74 13 1
Krunal Patel ct b Hazarika 1
Karan Rajani ct b Majid 6 1
Sajid Shafique Malik Not Out  7 1
Keval Shah  

Watford Town CC 2nd XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Haroon7.003700.005.29
Imran7.0015115.002.14
Usman10.004100.004.10
Naghman10.0039219.503.90
Hazarika10.0035311.673.50
Ali3.0018118.006.00
Syed1.001500.0015.00
Masin2.0028128.0014.00

Watford Town CC 2nd XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
9w 4b 5lb 
for 10 wickets
18
116 (32.4 overs)		     
Hazarika ct N Madhavan b Malik 11 2
Abu b Malik 15 2
Pulla ct Han b Anjum 30 5 1
Ali b Anjum 13 3
Syed b Anjum 4 1
Majid b Amjum 14 3
Abdullah ct Gairola b Rajani 8 1
Imran lbw Anjum 2
Latif st S Patel b Anjum 0
Ahmed ct Rajani b Madhavan 2
Bhatti Not Out  6 1

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Keval Shah6.011900.003.17
Sajid Shafique Malik8.021929.502.37
Iqbal Anjum10.022664.332.60
Krunal Patel4.002600.006.50
Nischay Madhavan4.0016116.004.00
Karan Rajani0.40111.001.50

  • Umpire :
    Colin Lynch
  • Scorer :