Scorecard

Harpenden CC 3rd XI v Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI on Sat 07 Jun 2025 at 12:00
Northwood Town Cricket Club Won by 25 runs

Match report Town 1s packed their kit bags—and swimming trunks—as they headed to Harpenden 3s, fully expecting an afternoon spent dodging raindrops rather than cricket balls. Unfortunately for the weather office employee who predicted a biblical downpour, not a single drop fell. That person is probably updating their CV as we speak. With the pitch looking softer than a hotel pillow, Skipper Anjum’s masterplan was simple: win the toss, bowl first, and chase something small before the weather realised it was supposed to ruin the day.

In classic Town fashion, Gairola and Loomba opened the innings. Loomba, now free from the gripping fear of his trousers falling mid-run thanks to some emergency whites from the vice-captain, could finally concentrate on cricket instead of wardrobe malfunctions. Sadly, the top order decided it was another good day for a group activity—this time a game of “Get Set, Settle In, and Then Silly Shot Out.” Gairola, Loomba, Han, S. Patel, and R. Bahl all took part enthusiastically, and by the time the music stopped, Town were wobbling at 43/5. At this point, it looked like Harpenden had sneakily borrowed Town's original game plan. But just as the Town dressing room started browsing rain apps again, in strode Skipper Anjum and Madhavan—calm, composed, and surprisingly competent. What followed was possibly the greatest Town partnership ever not recorded on a GoPro. They batted with a mix of patience, precision, and panic-inducing singles that left Harpenden's fielders gasping for breath and hope. A whopping 125-run partnership turned the game on its head. Of course, nothing gold can stay—so a classic mid-pitch mix-up (filed under “Skipper’s Fault”) saw Madhavan dismissed on 46, just four runs shy of glory and a social media shoutout. Anjum powered on, eventually making a heroic 76, before the tail enders remembered they were tail enders and Town wrapped up at 211 all out.

With rain no longer a threat and confidence as high as Loomba’s waistband, Town were favourites. Shah and Malik opened the bowling and wasted no time sending Harpenden’s top order back to their picnic chairs—Shah snatching three wickets like a man possessed. Harpenden were 48/4 and Town started dreaming of early celebrations. But, in true dramatic fashion, a Bollywood subplot emerged. Enter Taylor and Newton—clearly fans of the Anjum-Madhavan masterclass—as they began to copy the script and pile on the runs. The atmosphere shifted from party to panic, and suddenly even the clouds were like, “Let’s see where this goes.” Just when the match started resembling a Netflix thriller, Madhavan was handed the ball and immediately caused chaos—removing Newton and Killen in back-to-back overs. Anjum returned to the attack and promptly sent Taylor packing too, as Harpenden crumbled to 148/8. A small twist remained, courtesy of Bardley and Dyson (and Tate, who kindly dropped the easiest catch in cricketing history). Fortunately, he redeemed himself with a lightning-quick run-out, catching Dyson dreaming of a second run. At 180/9, the heavens finally decided to show up, and rain brought an end to the drama with Town declared winners by 25 runs on the D/L method—because why win normally when you can do it with math?

Post-match, Skipper Anjum didn’t hold back: “Top order needs to treat their wickets like Netflix passwords—stop giving them away! Proud of the comeback, but we’ve got to stop relying on miracle recoveries—we’re a cricket team, not a search-and-rescue squad. On his bromance with Madhavan: “He makes batting look easy. I just try not to ruin it.”

Anjum and Madhavan rightly shared the Man of the Match award—it was well deserved after their brilliant performances, even if they ended up soaked by the rain.

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 24w 9b 8lb 
for 10 wickets
42
211		        
Deepak Gairola ct b H Bradley 5 8 1 62.50 1
Akshay Loomba ct b H Bradley 5 28 1 17.86
James Han ct b H Bradley 0 7 0
Sangeet Patel b A Dyson 7 22 1 31.82 3
Rohit Bahl ct b A Dyson 10 11 1 90.91
Nischay Madhavan Run out  46 67 6 68.66
Iqbal Anjum ct J Killen b B Newton 76 92 11 1 82.61
Patrick Tate ct & b B Barcock 18 32 1 56.25 1 1
Krunal Patel lbw B Newton 0 1 0
Sajid Shafique Malik Not Out  2 16 12.50
Keval Shah Run out  0 1 0 1

Harpenden CC 3rd XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
A Dyson10.0329214.502.90
H Bradley7.0232310.674.57
G Taylor7.002500.003.57
B Barcock7.0032132.004.57
J Killen9.004300.004.78
B Newton7.1033216.504.60

Harpenden CC 3rd XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
12w 1b  
for 9 wickets
13
183 (44.0 overs)		     
D Whiteley b S Malik 1 9 11.11
J Sambrook ct & b K Shah 22 22 5 100
B Yurkwich ct S Patel b K Shah 10 22 1 45.45
G Taylor ct S Patel b I Anjum 63 71 7 2 88.73
B Grimberg ct S Patel b K Shah 0 6 0
B Newton ct D Gairola b N Madhavan 38 53 4 1 71.70
J Killen b N Madhavan 2 2 100
M Marven ct P Tate b I Anjum 2 10 20.0
H Bradley Not Out  22 42 1 52.38
A Dyson run out (P Tate & K Patel) 9 16 1 56.25
B Barcock Not Out  1 11 9.09

Northwood Town Cricket Club Saturday 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Sajid Shafique Malik4.0021121.005.25
Keval Shah9.012538.332.78
Iqbal Anjum9.0131215.503.44
Patrick Tate6.003300.005.50
Krunal Patel8.004600.005.75
Nischay Madhavan8.0026213.003.25

  • Umpire :
    Colin Lynch
  • Scorer :