North Enfield Cricket Club Friendly XI vs Genesis & Salmagundi Gardeners (H) - Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th September 2024

North Enfield Cricket Club’s Friendly XI put in two dominant performances over the course of the weekend at Strayfield Road to secure two victories in competitive friendlies.

They bowled Genesis out for 166 on Saturday, after earlier posting 188 - 8 from their 40 overs; meanwhile on Sunday they chased Salmagundi Gardeners’ target of 198 relatively comfortably, reaching 201 - 1 with just over four overs to spare.

After electing to bat first on Saturday, North Enfield got off to a positive start through William Munt and Daniel Vanniasingham, reaching 50 - 0 inside the first 12 overs. However, a flurry of wickets saw them reduced to 84 - 4 at drinks and left a rebuilding job for Tom Coughlan and Steve Gilmore.

The experienced pair ticked along nicely, although boundaries were hard to come by on a relatively slow outfield. Both ultimately fell when attempting to up the run rate, but Ishan Tilakaratna’s quick fire cameo (30*) propelled the hosts up to a challenging total of 188 - 8.

Abbie Jones then struck early with the ball and a bullet throw from Tilakaratna affected a run out to leave the visitors wobbling at 30 - 2. At this point an aggressive partnership then ensued, with both batters finding the boundary regularly and threatening to break the back of the run chase.

However, the introduction of Hannah Gilmore proved to be the decisive moment in the game, as she bowled with great control and picked up four wickets to stall the visitor’s momentum. With the run chase petering out, David Malleson cleaned up the tail to secure a 22 run victory for North Enfield and claim his 500^th wicket for the club in the process.

Just 24 hours later, North Enfield were back in action with the visit of Salmagundi Gardeners. The visitors got off to the brighter start, reaching 106 before the loss of their first wicket.

Once again Malleson proved to be the difference maker, picking up four wickets and preventing the Gardeners from pushing on past 200, as they ultimately reached 198 - 6.

William Munt and David Brandon guided the hosts to 60 - 0, before Brandon (19) fell to an outstanding diving catch on the boundary. However, North Enfield sustained no further losses, as Kieran Jones (95*) powered them to the finish line with some brutal hitting, alongside Munt (75*), for a nine wicket win.