North Enfield Cricket Club’s 2s put in a strong performance with the bat at London Colney on Saturday to increase their gap to the bottom two.
Stuart Halley’s imperious 107* guided North Enfield to 193 - 3 from their 40 overs, before their bowlers knocked over London Colney for 157 to secure a 36 run victory.
After losing the toss and being asked to bat, North Enfield got off to a solid start through William Munt and David Brandon, reaching 29 - 0 after five overs. However, both fell in quick succession and the hosts managed to get the run rate back under control.
Halley and Garry Orton consolidated for the visitors, with Halley taking some time to get in, before then starting to play the aggressor in the partnership. North Enfield were well set at 78 - 2 at drinks and Halley reached a fine 50 soon after, as they continued to put the pressure on Colney.
After reaching 50, Halley suddenly upped the ante and despite the loss of Orton (21) propelled North Enfield past 150 with several impressive blows. A solid cameo from Dan Gandy (11*) allowed Halley to continue to accelerate and reach a chanceless 100, ending up on 107* as North Enfield posted 193 - 3.
With the visitors needing to go at almost five an over from the very start, Thomas and Oliver Munt bowled tidily in tandem, with the latter getting the initial breakthrough via a good catch from Halley.
David Malleson and Abbie Jones then further increased the pressure on the hosts, forcing two batters to skew deliveries from Jones to backward point in quick succession. After drinks the next Colney pair put together a frustrating partnership, but were always just behind the rate and faltered further when Rich Lee removed their opener.
Otis Halley then briefly threatened to upstage his father with a brilliant spell of away swing bowling, taking two in two and firmly putting the writing on the wall for Colney. With the match over as a contest, Thomas Munt and Orton then traded wickets to put the seal on an important win for North Enfield.
Elsewhere, North Enfield’s 1s suffered a defeat at home to Hitchin, but Sunday was a history making day for the club, with Abbie Jones becoming the club’s first female captain in more than 50 years and first female captain of a senior side.
Image: Allan Jones
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