Scorecard

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI v Hitchin CC 2nd XI on Sat 31 May 2025 at 12:00
Northwood Town Cricket Club Won by 98 runs

Match report On a sun-soaked afternoon, Town 1s welcomed Hitchin 2s for a top-of-the-table clash between two unbeaten sides. The stakes were high, the weather was hot, and the entire Town lineup was nervously whispering prayers for skipper I. Anjum to win the toss. Their prayers were answered — Anjum called correctly and, to the relief of all those hoping not to field under the blazing sun, chose to bat first.

Returning to the side, A. Loomba opened the innings alongside the in-form D. Gairola. The duo got off to a solid start, punishing bad deliveries with ease — despite boundaries so far away it felt like they were batting at the MCG. Gairola, as always, came out swinging but played one shot too many and walked back to the pavilion with 20 entertaining runs. J. Han entered next and left before most spectators had finished chewing their Haribo — his innings described by some as “shorter than a TikTok video”. S. Patel and Loomba looked to rebuild, but Patel fell just after getting set, and Loomba soon followed in a noble attempt to raise the run rate. At 78/5, things were wobbling harder than a jelly on a rollercoaster. Much of this chaos was caused by the disciplined bowling of S. Bayston and T. Ireland, who together bowled 20 overs for just 46 runs and five wickets. But cometh the hour, cometh N. Madhavan. Batting at six, he looked calm, composed, and completely unbothered by the mounting pressure. With a mix of elegant drives and cheeky cuts, he partnered with the skipper, who anchored the innings with ice-cold calm. Just as Town began to look settled again, Madhavan fell to a sharp catch, ending a promising knock and leaving the score at 118/6. Next came the Vadgama-Anjum partnership. V. Vadgama wasted no time showing off his signature walk-down-the-track straight drives — a crowd favourite. The scoreboard ticked along nicely until, just like that, both he and the skipper departed in quick succession, and Town were left teetering again at 177/8. Hitchin’s bowlers sensed a collapse and closed in like sharks smelling blood in the water. Enter Vice Captain K. Patel — much maligned, occasionally questioned, and today... absolutely unleashed. After a scratchy start and a few missed opportunities to punish full tosses, Patel finally connected — and then didn’t stop. The ball began flying to all parts of the ground (particularly cow corner, his spiritual home), and he raced to 43* off just 22 balls, including five fours and three colossal sixes. S. Malik joined the party too, whacking a couple of boundaries and helping to launch the tail-end total skyward. In the blink of an eye, Town rocketed to 235 all out, leaving Hitchin’s fielders walking off looking more sunburnt than satisfied.

With a spring in their step and runs on the board, Town took to the field full of energy. J. Daly did what he does best — struck in the very first over. On the other end, S. Malik continued his fine form with the ball, snatching another early wicket to leave Hitchin at 12/2. Runs dried up faster than a British summer pint, and Town were fielding like eleven versions of Jonty Rhodes. Unfortunately, Daly’s spell was cut short by a hamstring tweak, prompting I. Anjum to step in. Meanwhile, V. Vadgama replaced Malik and struck immediately, celebrating both wickets with his iconic airplane celebration — Heathrow, eat your heart out. D. Moore briefly threatened to swing momentum Hitchin’s way, but a fired-up K. Patel — fresh off his batting blitz — removed him with a screamer of a caught-and-bowled. N. Madhavan continued his role as economy enforcer, tying things down tighter than a wedding RSVP list. Patel returned to mop up the tail, finishing with magnificent figures of 4 wickets for 38 runs from 7 overs. Hitchin were eventually dismissed for 137, handing Town a thumping 98-run win and a massive boost in the title race.

Skipper I. Anjum summed it up perfectly after the match:
“We always say all eleven of us can bat — today we actually proved it. Every time our backs were against the wall, we built key partnerships. Great to see Madhavan back in the runs, and a very entertaining knock from my vice-captain — more of that this season, please! With the ball, we continued our form from last week. Very proud of the discipline we showed. And a big shoutout to the VC again for a truly all-round performance.”

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
23w 2b 3lb 
for 10 wickets
28
235		        
Akshay Loomba ct S Flint b S Bayston 21 57 4 36.84
Deepak Gairola ct S Flint b T Ireland 20 24 4 83.33
James Han b T Ireland 2 4 50.0 1
Sangeet Patel lbw S Bayston 22 35 3 62.86
Rohit Bahl ct C Malan b T Ireland 1 7 14.29 2
Nischay Madhavan ct J Kelsall b D Moore 24 38 4 63.16 1
Iqbal Anjum ct S Flint b G Jandu 34 65 4 52.31
Veer Vadgama b C Malan 28 28 4 100
Krunal Patel Not Out  43 22 5 3 195.45 1
Sajid Shafique Malik lbw J Kelsall 9 8 2 112.50 1
Jack Daly b B Bayley 3 7 42.86

Hitchin CC 2nd XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
B Bayley4.1019119.004.56
J Kelsall5.0057157.0011.40
S Bayston10.0321210.502.10
T Ireland10.032538.332.50
D Moore 7.0039139.005.57
C Malan10.0143143.004.30
G Jandu3.0026126.008.67

Hitchin CC 2nd XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
12w  
for 10 wickets
12
137 (36.5 overs)		     
S Bayston b K Patel 23 51 2 45.10
C Malan lbw J Daly 0 1 0
R Ingram b S Malik 7 15 1 46.67
B Roskilly ct J Han b V Vadgama 16 35 45.71
S Flint lbw N Madhavan 40 80 3 50.0
G Jandu ct N Madhavan b V Vadgama 4 10 1
D Moore ct & b K Patel 19 19 3 100
B Bayley ct R Bahl b K Patel 2 11 18.18
T Ireland ct R Bahl b K Patel 10 17 2 58.82
C Gwinnett Not Out  4 2 1 200
J Kelsall run out S Malik/ S Patel 0 3 0

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jack Daly4.1020120.004.80
Sajid Shafique Malik6.0213113.002.17
Iqbal Anjum7.512400.003.06
Veer Vadgama5.0025212.505.00
Krunal Patel7.003849.505.43
Nischay Madhavan6.5017117.002.49

  • Umpire :
    Colin Lynch
  • Scorer :