Mixed fortunes for North Enfield
There were mixed results across the weekend for North Enfield in a couple of friendly games against Hatfield & Crusaders and Salmagundi Gardeners.
On Saturday, Hatfield & Crusaders elected to bat first in a fixture that allowed both teams to find out more about an opponent that they would face next season in Division 4A of the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League. Freddie Pearson and Oliver Munt ensured that Hatfield got off to a relatively sedate start, as both bowled tight lines with the new ball and the latter was able to prise out the first wicket with a ball that nipped back and took the inside edge to hit the top of off stump. However, the arrival of the Hatfield number three saw the scoring rate accelerate, as he dismissed any loose bowling from his presence and regularly found the boundary on his way to 50. Despite some tight and prosperous bowling in tandem from Andy MacMurdie and Thomas Munt, the visitors’ continued to move towards an intimidating total, as the number three reached 100 and Hatfield pushed towards 250. Soon after he reached his 100, Thomas Munt had him caught by Freddie Pearson at long off to claim his third wicket, but despite Hannah Gilmore and Oliver Munt both claiming two late wickets, the visistors posted a daunting 268 from their 40 overs. The North Enfield reply was a brief and painful one as they were bowled out for 40 inside 15 overs in the face of some impressive bowling from the visitors. Ishan Tilakaratna top scored with 15, but no other batter got into double figures and North Enfield slumped to a disastrous 228-run defeat.
Elsewhere on Sunday, there was much more to cheer from a North Enfield perspective as they defeated Salmagundi Gardeners by five wickets in a damp and rain-affected affair. The Gardeners elected to bat first and amassed a tricky looking 188 for 7 from their 35 overs, despite two rain delays disrupting their innings, with David Malleson picking up three wickets and Freddie Pearson and Steve Gilmore claiming two apiece for North Enfield. Chris Gillman’s quickfire 22 got the hosts off to a rapid start, whilst cameos from Sam MacMurdie (22), Garry Orton (17) and Oliver Munt (10) supported Tom Coughlan (80*) in steering North Enfield home, with Steve Gilmore hitting the winning runs in the final over, as he finished on 9*.
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