Watford Town (II) vs North Enfield Cricket Club I (A) - Saturday 13th July 2024

North Enfield Cricket Club’s 1s came out victorious against Watford Town in a last over thriller on Saturday to move up to fifth in Division 4A of the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League!

Tom Coughlan managed to defend 12 off the final over, with North Enfield restricting Watford Town to 183 / 7,  five runs shy of their 188 / 9.

After electing to bat, North Enfield soon found themselves in a bit of early trouble, after the loss of Ishan Tilakaratna (5) and Pat Honnor (10). However, Kieran Jones and Coughlan were able to steady the ship and guide the visitors to 90 - 2 at drinks. Despite riding their luck at times, the pair put away any loose deliveries and eased the pressure that had been building on their side.

Jones then unfortunately fell just two runs shy of 50 and Irfan Ali was caught at slip soon after, as North Enfield slipped to 98 - 4. Coughlan continued to accumulate well though and the arrival of debutant Navod Sankalpa at the crease with 10 overs remaining swung the momentum back in favour of North Enfield.

Sankalpa found the boundary five times in an aggressive cameo of 35 and Coughlan’s unbeaten 62 allowed North Enfield to reach a challenging total of 188 / 9 from their 50 overs.

Sankalpa and Freddie Pearson opened the bowling for North Enfield and bowled well in tandem, eventually finding the breakthrough and halting the hosts’ steady start, as Sankalpa trapped one opener LBW and Pearson had the other caught by Josh Jones.

The hosts continued to steadily accumulate without ever really threatening to break away from North Enfield, with Tilakaratna breaking a promising third wicket partnership and Steve Gandy then picking up three quick wickets to keep the game firmly in the balance.

With 40 runs required from eight overs, the final result seemed difficult to call, but the game swung considerably towards North Enfield when Coughlan ran out the Watford Town captain for 45. 12 runs were eventually required off the final over and a combination of good bowling and determined fielding saw the visistors squeeze home to a deserved five run victory.

Elsewhere, North Enfield’s 2s succumbed to a 36 run defeat at home to Broxbourne, although the Sunday XI chased 227 against Pelicans in 35 overs thanks to a 160 run partnership from Kieran Jones (80*) and Andy Corgan (68).