Gaz, Bex and Saf star in classy away performance

Electing to bat first on a greenish pitch, LTI would have been unhappy to find themselves on 30 for three. James and Vila each hit the stumps early before Suckling pulled off one of great pieces of Northchurch wicket keeping. Standing up to the stumps, he moved swiftly to collect a leg side delivery and whip of the bails. All that was left to do was seek the umpire's agreement that the batsman had dragged out.

LTI then put on a brilliant partnership of 130, with Singh striking sweetly through the leg side and Abadeen guiding through the off. Northchurch stayed patient and made notes on the condition of pitch, which offered very little seam, spin or pace. Making his first 1st XI appearance of the year, Javelin Dave was the pick of the bowlers through the middle overs and made scoring tough with some extra pace, bounce and a change of angle.

Coming on after the half way mark, Saf Khan made the breakthrough as Singh, looking to open the shoulders, clothed it to midwicket. Abadeen, closing in on his hundred, followed soon after, hitting a full toss steepling towards Romit Patel on the square leg boundary, who clung on with a flourish. The remaining batters sought to score quickly, but could not line up Khan's flight and gifted their wickets to give the bowler a well deserved five. The return of the opening bowlers wrapped up the LTI innings on 214 in 42 overs to make Northchurch the happier of the two sides at tea, given that the home team had ben 180/3 in the 35th.

Luton made the most of the new ball to remove both openers early before Suckling and Garraway dug in to establish a foothold and take the shine off the ball. With the score on 68, Suckling was held at slip to unite Bexon and Garraway. A couple more wickets and the game would very definitely be on, however, no further wickets were lost as the pair batted beautifully in a partnership of 149 to reel in the total with several overs to spare.

They were rewarded for early caution with an ever-flatter pitch, a tiring attack and some balls to hit. Bexon very sensibly rotated the strike to Garraway, who was brutal on anything short and hit 18 boundaries on his way to his seventh league hundred. A couple of characteristic Garraway extra cover drives that seemed to gather pace along the lush Luton outfield stick in the mind but the real highlight of the partnership was the way the pair went about the innings. With maturity and patience, the pair went up and down the gears to play risk free cricket but keep the run rate flowing.

When Henry brought up his fifty, just a handful of runs were required and victory seemed inevitable. But the LTI bowlers deserve credit for sticking to their task til the end, and causing the odd nervous moment throughout. Mention should be made of the five or six LTI players who were fasting for Ramadan. On a hot day, the match was obviously very draining but they courageously stuck to their task.

Northchurch take the win, the moment and a big bag of confidence into next week's match up against Letchworth Garden City 2nd XI at the Meadow.