North Enfield Cricket Club I vs Chipperfield & Clarendon I (H) - Saturday 02nd September 2024

2^nd XI’s Survival and Friendly Victories Bring Some Cheer for North Enfield amongst 1’s Relegation

North Enfield’s 1^st XI were relegated to Division 4A of the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League following an entertaining defeat to Chipperfield & Clarendon.

Chipperfield elected to bat first, but found themselves in early strife, as after one opener had found the boundary on multiple occasions, he unthinkably ran himself out after hitting the ball straight to Pat Honnor. He was soon followed back to the pavilion by the number three batter, removed by Thomas Munt, before the captain’s torturous innings (4 from 49) was ended when he edged the impressive Adam Jessop through to William Munt. With the visitors 80 - 3 at drinks, North Enfield were in command, however - a considerable fourth wicket partnership took the game away from them, as both the number four (78) and number five (79) batters played some eye-catching shots, but also took advantage of some sub-par catching from the hosts. Lower order hitting propelled Chipperfield past 250, before Will Griesdale claimed two wickets in the final over to restrict them to 274 / 8.

Unfortunately, North Enfield found themselves in the familiar position of being three wickets down early on, before Honnor and Irfan Ali steadied the ship. Despite Honnor falling for 33, Ali and Sam MacMurdie continued to accumulate, steering North Enfield towards a potential winning position. As Ali passed 50 and motored on, a growing home contingent started to get excited as the hosts neared 200, however - the fall of Ali for a wonderful 86 and MacMurdie for a gritty 39 saw the end of their chase and they were eventually bowled out for 229, losing by 45 runs and being condemned to Division 4A next season. There was better news elsewhere, as the 2’s 6 run victory over Reed, spearheaded by Kieran Jones’ 98, meant that they finished 6^th in Division 9B.

Over the past week, North Enfield also completed two friendly victories, as 50s from William Munt and Ishan Tilakaratna saw them post 241 / 8 against Enfield Ignatians Rugby Club, before two wickets apiece for David Brandon, Hannah Gilmore, Freddie Pearson and Chris Gillman saw them bowl the Rugby Club out for 121 to complete a 120-run victory. Also, centuries for Gillman (102*) and Tilakaratna (108*) saw North Enfield amass 301 / 4 against Camel CC on Sunday, who posted 277 in reply, as North Enfield won a high scoring thriller by just 24 runs.