Despite a second disappointing loss, the league title is still firmly in the 2nd XI’s hands leading into the final game. We lost or won the toss, doesn’t seem to matter these days, and found ourselves chasing, not the worst option on a seemingly drying pitch. Nakul Hirani and Joe Senatore started off well and some pretty ropey shots from the Marlow openers saw them getting themselves out, caught in the infield. We continued to take regular wickets, which were shared around, with Hirani taking an excellent 4-21, leaving him the leading wicket taker in division 3b, making a certain wicket keeper very smug after he described him as the best bowler in the league after 3 games. Stubborn resistance and two vital innings from the number 5 and 10 took Marlow to, what felt like at the time, a below par total of 114.
It was not our finest hour, but credit to Marlow, by far the best fielding side we’ve seen all year, and probably the best bowling attack too. Wickets fell regularly and partnerships were hard to come by. We lost by a few. This may be just the rocket that we needed to shake us up for the last game, but regardless of final position, this has been a fantastic season, following on from the efforts to get promoted last year! Marlow 114 all out (30.3 overs) Harefield 86 all out (32.4 overs) Marlow won by 28 runs. Scorecard link: https://www.tvlcricket.com/scorecard.php?Match_ID=8446 Match Report by Tom Day.
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Two excellent performances to report over the last 2 days for the u10s team.
First, they beat a strong Northwood team in a game dominated by the bowlers, where Harefield posted a hard fought 230/7 on a bouncy astro pitch. The u10s then put in their best bowling performance of the season to restrict Northwood to 208/9 with 5 wickets for Ramsimer. Harefield 230/7 Northwood 208/9 Harefield won by 22 runs. Having beaten them soundly last week, Ickenham brought a much stronger side, yet the colts bowlers stepped up again to restrict them to 224/4. In a close finish, Ramsimer hit some great shots to see us home and finish on 232/6. Ickenham 224/4 Harefield 232/6 Harefield won by 8 runs. 5 games: 5 wins, with 12 colts making their club debuts. After what's been a tough year for everyone, the team has stuck together and come on massively in their cricketing skills. Well done everyone and many thanks to all the parents for their support. Match reports written by James Ayling. The 1s arrived at Slough on the back of an enthralling win the previous week with the weather set fair for a full day's cricket. Even before a ball had been bowled, the Hares were making friends as not one, nor two but three players were on the sharp end of the groundsman’s tongue, as he was very insistent nobody was to walk on the pitch pre game. This resulted in the toss being taken on the adjacent pitch; a toss which was subsequently lost, forcing the Hares to take the field.
The Hares start was similar to many away games this year with few runs coming off the bat and extras being the leading run scorer in the early overs. The spectators did not have to wait too long for early breakthroughs, with Jordan Mcleod cleaning bowling the opening batsmen before Skipper Doug King nicked off the number 3 which left Slough at 9-2. A couple of near 50 run partnerships for Slough as a result of some sensible batting and some ill-disciplined bowling meant Slough had progressed onto 105-4 before Croft dismissed the dangerous number 5 for a near run-a-ball 33. T. Marshall was brought on at the opposite end and this introduction brought the 5th wicket with the score on only 106, a way in for the Hares perhaps. However, another partnership ensued before Croft picked up his second wicket with the help of an excellent outfield catch by J. Mcleod. With the score on 137, Croft then picked up another wicket the very next ball trapping the number 8 leg before. The hat-trick ball passed by without much fanfare, before Croft got his 4th wicket of the match the ball after, once again striking the pad in front of all 3 leaving Slough on 138-8 at the end of Croft’s spell of 4/26 in 8 overs. The tail did unfortunately wag for Slough as the last few wickets put on 27 leaving the Hares needing a challenging 165 to win on a low and slow pitch. The Hares reply got underway in fairly understated fashion as we reached 15 off the first 5 overs. W. Hatton was the first man to go, as he was stumped with the score on 16 before losing D. Ogden in a similar fashion to last week, getting a leading edge off the medium pacer to mid-on with the score on 34. The Hares lost K. Singh & L. Tyrrell before the score had reached 50 and 165 was beginning to look a long way away. The 4th wicket brought out Hares youngster O. Stalder to the crease to join T. Mcleod. Although some indifferent batting was on display, sensible running between the wickets allowed the scoreboard to once again tick over. As the Hares were beginning to get their foot in the door, another wicket fell with just under 100 still needed to win and half the batsmen in the shed. T. Marshall and J. Mcleod were the next 2 batsmen to fall to deliveries barely reaching shin height as the pitch began to leave its impression on the game with an increasing number of balls beginning to misbehave. A few lusty blows for Skipper King brought some hope but this was short lived as the final wicket fell with the score on 116 resulting in a loss of 48 runs with T. McLeod left on 31*. Next up for the Hares is division 1 outfit Tring Park at HCC HQ. Slough 164 all out (38.5 overs) Harefield 116 all out (35 overs) Slough won by 48 runs. Scorecard link: https://hcpcl.play-cricket.com/website/results/4457564 Match Report written by Stephen Croft. On a bright September morning, with the sun making an appearance in Windsor, the team
arrived gunning for their first win of the season in front of the picturesque Windsor Castle. Datchet won the toss and sent the Hares in to bat. Syed Bukhari and Paul Collett got off to a flier, racing along until Collett hit an extremely slow bouncer into the hands of Midwicket. This led to Mo Halilaj walking out to bat to join the determined Bukhari. Whilst Halilaj seemed to be struggling for timing on a wicket that was both slow and staying very low, Bukhari was racing along waiting for the bad balls coming every over and dispatching them to the fence. The 2nd wicket brought the departure of Halilaj and player of the week Adam Seymour strode to the crease looking ready to make a big score. On just his second and third balls, Seymour set out his intentions early, playing a beautiful straight and on drive. With Bukhari motoring along nicely at the other end reaching a very quick 50, Seymour was also able to hit a few eye-catching sixes that set the team up nicely for the last 10 overs. With Seymour and Bukhari delivering hefty blows off Datchet’s leg spinner, Seymour soon reached a well-made 50 on a tough pitch. As the boys looked to push up the total for the last 5 overs of the innings, Seymour was bowled for an excellent 69 by the Datchet captain. This was the start of a mini collapse that saw Harsharn Singh fall clean bowled and with the Datchet captain on a hattrick, Jojo O’Hara survived a very tight LBW. Towards the end of the innings with Bukhari delivering a few mighty blows along with O’Hara and Praba Ramalingham, all contributing towards a competitive total of 204-5. Bukhari batted very well for the full 40 overs reaching 93* supported well by Seymour. The opening bowlers started on the money picking up both opening batsmen bowled and caught by the ever-reliable Halilaj. With Tejas Hirani picking up their number 3 bat LBW, Datchet were teetering at 32-3. However, the Datchet captain and number 4 bat was starting to look dangerous, hitting a few boundaries in just his first few balls. Step up Bukhari, the man of the day, who after confusion between the number 4 and 5 batsmen picked up the dangerous Datchet captain with a brilliant direct run out to send him back to the pavilion. With Datchet falling well behind the run rate, Hirani, Razwan Hanif and Ramalingham took the wickets of their number 5, 6 and 7 batsmen. Although the Datchet number 8 hit a well-made 50, with wickets continuing to fall around him the game was soon over. A comical run out of their number 11 batsman finished the game off with Datchet being bowled out for 132 in 30 overs. In the end the Hares won comfortably by 72 runs. Harefield 204/5 (40 overs) Datchet 132 all out (30 overs) Harefield won by 72 runs. Scorecard link: https://www.tvlcricket.com/scorecard.php?Match_ID=9167 Match report written by Tejas Hirani. Following the end of the initial 8 round of games in the pool stage the Hares 1st XI will be play at home to Tring Park. The Hares will have another fixture the week after but opposition and venue are to be confirmed.
Next 1st XI fixture: Tring Park (HCC HQ) 12pm Start. Slough 1st XI v Harefield 1st XI
Slough 164 all out (38.5 overs) S. Croft 4/26 Harefield 116 all out (35 overs) T. McLeod 31* Slough won by 48 runs Harefield 2nd XI v Marlow 1st XI Marlow 114 all out (30.3 overs) N. Hirani 4/21 Harefield 86 all out (32.4 overs) Marlow won by 28 runs Datchet 3rd XI v Harefield 3rd XI Harefield 204/5 (40 overs) S. Bukhari 93* A. Seymour 69 Datchet 132 all out (30 overs) T. Hirani 3/24 Harefield won by 72 runs Match reports to follow. Slough 1st XI v Harefield 1st XI 12:00pm start
The 1st XI will play their final league game of the season against fellow division 2 side Slough before the league splits into the knockout phase. The Hares haven’t come up against Slough since the tied game in 2016. In the previous 4 matches there has been a Slough victory, a Harefield victory, a tie and a no result. The 1s are without all-rounder M. Ogden as he is away on a holiday, he is replaced by the fit again L. Tyrrell. W. Hatton will once again take the gloves after being ill last week, this means J. Fosberry drops down to the 2s this week. Slough find themselves 18th place this year having won 1 game and lost 5 so far, with the other game abandoned. The 1s are currently 13 points behind 8th placed Aston Rowant and will require the unlikely feat of the 5 higher placed teams all losing to stand a chance of finishing in the top 8. Harefield 2nd XI v Marlow 1st XI 12:30pm start Harefield 2s meet Marlow 1s after playing against their 2s last year. The 2s unbeaten record was undone last week by Farnham Royal and the 2s will be keen to bounce back. Marlow are in 4th place this year having won 4 and lost 2 so far, with 1 match abandoned. The 2s are still without the unavailable Will Shepherd but are welcomed by the return of J. Senatore & J. Fosberry for his 1st 2s appearance of the year. The 2s are currently top and will be looking to win their remaining 2 matches to guarantee the title. Datchet 3rd XI v Harefield 3rd XI 12:30pm start The 3s play Datchet 3s this weekend once again looking to get their first win of the season. Datchet 3s are currently in 8th place having won 2, lost 3 & 2 matches abandoned. The 3s are once again out with gun skipper Moore, with club stalwart P. Collett once again taking charge of the 3s ship. The 3s will be buoyed by the availability of A. Seymour after his player of the week performance in the 2s the previous week. Harefield were looking for their first win of the season when they hosted Slough 5th XI on a damp and spongy wicket. Due to the excellent punctuality of a few members of the team, skipper Paul Collett choose to bat first, opening up with himself and Syed Bhukari.
A young and energetic Slough team started off on the front foot with their opening bowler swinging one in through Bhukari’s defence and clipping the top of middle and leg. The pitch was doing plenty with the occasionally ball hitting a length and bouncing over the batsmen’s head for a wide. Harefield then settled down with the captain and Khan seeing off the new ball bowlers and taking the score past 50 with some sensible batting. Collett’s dismissal for 18 was followed by the small re build from Khan and Hanif before 3 wickets fell in the space of a few overs. Harefield found themselves 5 down with Halilaj (making his Harefield debut) and Ramalingham both new to the crease. They both set about changing the momentum of the game with a counter-attacking partnership that saw both batsmen punishing anything short from the spinners, with Ramalingham being particularly aggressive and hitting and couple of hefty 6s over midwicket. The pair took Harefield’s score past 125 before Ramalingham was caught having made 31. Halilaj kept the score ticking along but wickets fell regularly at the other end with O’Hara (0), Mann (8) and Sangay (5) all getting out trying to score some quick runs. A well-called two from the last ball of the innings took Halilaj’s score to 37* and Harefield to a respectable 153-9 off their 40 overs. Slough came out to bat and were quickly pushed into their shells by some accurate and persistent bowling from Hirani and Ramalingham. The first 6 overs went by with the run rate under 1 and the Slough openers struggling to lay bat on ball. Hirani sped in for his 4th over and his length ball was met by the thick outside edge of Speakman’s bat and was well caught by Kahn. All 11 fielders and every man and his dog went up for the appeal which was somehow rejected by the umpire, then Speakman spent the next five minutes walking back and forward to square leg with Joe O’Hara asking him where he planned to have dinner later that evening. Skipper Collet then took an absolute screamer running backwards from mid-on to dismiss Ghazi off the bowling of Ramalingham. The opening bowlers bowled through with their combined 16 overs costing just 32 runs. Harefield were ahead of the game and took regular wickets getting Slough 5 down with less than half the target reached – Hanif and Bukhari sharing the wickets. Slough then had a late-middle order revival to match Harefield’s in the first innings with (firstly) Hegde and then Sheeraz and Sharma deciding to attack and take the bowling on. A flurry of risky but effective shots took the required rate to below 5 and put the pressure but on Harefield who dropped a few crucial chances in the process. O’Hara then had Sheeraz caught and bowled with 15 required off the last 4 overs. Sharma swung hard in the next couple of overs and connected with two big 6s over midwicket to help get Slough over the line with 8 balls and 3 wickets left. Scorecard link: https://www.tvlcricket.com/scorecard.php?Match_ID=9162 Match report written by Muhamet Halilaj. The 2nd XI turned up at Farnham Royal on a day where the weather was not looking promising. However, the 2nd XI looked optimistic, starting this match with the same intent that has been an ever present feature so far this season.
Harefield were to bowl first in favorable conditions. The opening bowling partnership was captain Richards and Hirani, who both had previously bowled some very good spells this year and Richards continued his form by taking two early wickets. Throughout the innings Farnham made sure to utilize the tricky conditions to their advantage by running quick singles and putting pressure on the fielders. They were able to build a few notable partnerships throughout but not without pressure from the Hares. The spinners bowled economically with Beacham picking up two, continuing the bowling partnership alongside Morris this season. Seymour bowled superbly for his three wickets, however, this was overshadowed because of his continuous dangerous bowling. The innings was finished off by Hirani taking the last three wickets as the Farnham really put the pressure on. A fantastic catch by Knife in the deep after the ball hit the moon, sealed what they hoped was a very chase able score of 172 requiring just over 4 runs an over. With Shepherd missing from the opening spot, Hirani fillied his place alongside Lippiatt and they both started off cautiously with the wicket being a little unpredictable. Hirani was soon caught in front of all three for one run, which meant Richards was in to show his batting prowess and started strongly causing the opposing captain to change the field to stifle the run rate. Richards was looking strong until the opposition umpire adjudged him to be hit in front, this led to two additional wickets to fall soon after. The next batsman for Harefield to come was Singh, making his first appearance for the 2nd XI this season, he managed to get his eye in first ball by going over the bowler’s head for six showing he has not lost his range hitting. Singh (22) and Lippiatt (27) were looking settled before Lippiatt was caught by the keeper. Once this quick partnership fell it seemed the runs required was a little out of reach, despite some good batting displayed by Seymour (21) and Evans (21) which brought a shimmer of hope, this was not to last. When Morris and Beacham were to enter the crease they decided to collect the easy singles left in the innings to get to the next batting point. Only 15 runs adrift which could have easily been made up in the field. This was a highly competitive match between two evenly balanced teams one which could have easily gone either way. The 2s have 4th placed Marlow to face next week, before finishing the season against the OMT who are currently 2nd to the Hares. Farnham Royal 171 all out (38.3 overs) Harefield 2s 156/9 (40 overs) Farnham Royal won by 15 runs. Scorecard link: https://www.tvlcricket.com/scorecard.php?Match_ID=8442 Match Report written by Sam Beacham. |
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