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2s keep promotion hopes alive with win against Little Berkhamsted

2s keep promotion hopes alive with win against Little Berkhamsted

Matt Dawson22 Aug 2017 - 10:33
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Stand-in captain, Jack Randall, starred with bat and ball to lead the second XI to a comfortable victory.

Following last week’s convincing victory, Northchurch 2s saw off Little Berkhamsted at The Meadow, as the 2nd XI seeks to follow their first-team counterparts’ lead by securing league promotion. While not in their hands, an unbeaten close to the season will see the 2s ready to capitalise on any mistakes made by those immediately above them.

Having lost the toss that saw the visiting captain elect to bat, stand-in skipper, Jack Randall, opened the bowling with last week’s leading bowler, Ben Pyne. Plenty of cloud cover favoured Northchurch’s all-seam attack, and both openers bowled well to prevent Little Berkhamsted from getting off to a quick start on a typically good Northchurch wicket.

Pyne claimed the first wicket when he had Green caught in the slips by Ronak Patel for just one. After a short period of the two seasoned batsmen digging in, Randall claimed the wicket of Smith (23), caught behind by Ryan Smart. The 2s were mostly solid in the field, although had little to do at times when the bowlers repeatedly found the gloves of Smart having just missed the bat.

Spells from David Vila and Chris Pearson built more pressure on the batsmen, with the pace of Pearson and accuracy of Vila making it difficult to score runs. Vila (1-37 off 10) struck early in his ten-over spell, trapping Bowers leg before for 10.

That third wicket brought Ramakrishnan to the crease, who anchored the middle section of the innings and top scored for the visitors, eventually reaching 51 following a slow start. Prior to that though, Adam Forshaw came on for a short stint before drinks and had Allum caught behind on 34 with the first ball of the spell.

With Little Berkhamsted four down at drinks and seemingly below what would be a par score, Northchurch looked to consolidate their strong position through the middle overs. Charlie Sweeten (0-9 off 4) came into the attack, bowling extremely tight lines in his four over spell and conceding just nine runs to finish as Northchurch’s most economical bowler.

Little Berkhamsted looked to accelerate their scoring when Forshaw(1-35 off 8) and Pyne came back into the attack, and the boundary count increased when Ramakrishnan and Shazad went aerial, avoiding the fielders more often than not. Shazad ultimately miscued a shorter ball from Pyne (2-50 off 9), finding Vila at midwicket to leave Little Berkhamsted’s lower order at the mercy of Pearson and Randall, who both returned for the final overs.

Randall (3-37 off 10) picked up the prized wicket of Ramakrishnan – who edged behind to give Smart his third catch – having also bowled Tancock for two. At the other end, Pearson (3-32 off 8.1) picked up the wickets his earlier spell had deserved, clean bowling Newman (0) and Hansraj (16), and trapping T Hansraj leg before. The aggressive, if unconventional, approach of the tail-enders helped Little Berkhamsted surpass the 200-run mark, ultimately setting a target of 211.

The consensus at tea was that the target was shy of where it should be, especially for The Meadow. Having reached a similar target last week on a more temperamental wicket, it gave Northchurch confidence that they could chase the total required.

That confidence took a couple of dents early in the chase however, with Little Berkhamsted’s openers proving to be deceptively hard to get away, causing Ryan Smart and Jack Fantham early difficulties. Indeed, the first wicket came as Fantham pushed for a quick second before being sent back by Smart. The confusion brought a rare piece of exceptional fielding from the boundary, leaving Fantham out of his ground and heading back to the pavilion for one.

Potentially with the incident still in mind, Smart nicked the next ball behind, drawing a handy catch from the slip cordon off the accurate bowling of Bowers. The two wickets in quick succession left Northchurch 12-2 from the first 7.1 overs, but brought Theo Gayton and Randall to the middle.

The two batted with discipline to see off the opening bowlers, keeping the run rate ticking over to wrestle control back to the home side. Almost matching each other shot for shot, Gayton and Randall both reached their half centuries in quick succession – in 58 and 54 balls respectively.

The run rate was not all that was mirrored at both ends, with boundaries being scored at regular intervals, while both batsmen recorded maximums with shots down the ground. Perhaps the only exception to that came early in Gayton’s innings, where the Little Berkhamsted team was convinced he had edged behind. Gayton remained unmoved in the middle, as did Umpire Chris James’ finger, leaving the visitors bemused, and unconvinced that the noise was from bat on pad.

Gayton continued unfazed by the incident, and thrived under the increased level of sledging being directed his way. As the partnership passed 150 (ultimately reaching 198) and the required rate came down, the enthusiasm among the Little Berkhamsted fielders dwindled, increasing misfields and allowing Northchurch to close in on the target with relative ease.

As the match meandered to a simple home victory, there was to be one final bit of action however. With the scores tied, Randall nudged the ball towards third man and called for the quick single required to win the match. Gayton – perhaps guilty of expecting more lackadaisical fielding – was unable to make his ground in time, after another uncharacteristic piece of excellent fielding, leaving him to watch the final play from the pavilion having scored 96.

Ronak Patel saw out the rest of the over without trouble, with the winning run scored courtesy of a wide from Little Berkhamsted’s eighth bowler, in keeping with the away team’s approach to the final stages of the match. Randall carried his bat on 87, taking his combined tally against the opponents to 149 not out for the season.

With just two games remaining this season, Northchurch 2s will be targeting maximum points, a must if they are to have any chance of securing promotion.

*Written by Adam Forshaw*

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