MIDDLESEX CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Turnham Green & Polytechnic 201-9
Bessborough 205-2
Bessborough won by eight wickets
BESSBOROUGH moved joint top of the Middlesex Championship thanks to a resounding victory on Saturday.
Boro recorded an eight-wicket victory at Turnham Green & Polytechnic to draw level on points with MTSSC and Crouch End.
Boro captain Dan Hawes decided to take to the field after winning the toss, backing his troops to chase a target.
Pace bowler Neal Patel made an early breakthrough, bowling Turnham Green’s opener Roland Bryan for a duck in the third over.
But despite some tight and probing bowling from Patel, it was not until Hawes brought on his spinners Alexander Haniff (1-74) and Rohan Karkhanis (3-56) that more wickets were claimed.
A dropped chance to remove the dangerous opener Ed Lush (57) when he was in the 20s could have proved costly, but having reached his half-century, the Turnham Green player walked past a sharp turning Karkhanis ball for keeper Will Grogan to expertly stump.
Turnham Green chanced their arm towards the end of the innings with some big shots, but the reintroduction of Patel into the attack proved decisive as the bowler got rid of four lower order batsmen as the home side finished on a respectable 201-9.
Patel, playing only his second match of the season, finished the game with clinical figures of 5-32 from 13 overs.
With 28 runs coming in the first five overs of Bessborough’s innings, it appeared that openers Hawes and Tharshan Kanagaraj were keen to get the job done and get out of the heat.
Progress was halted when Kanagaraj missed a straight full toss to be out for 14 lbw to David Boothroyd (1-40) with the score on 30, but normal service was resumed as number three Haniff joined Hawes in hitting boundaries all around the ground.
The pair added 121 runs for the second wicket when Hawes eventually gave way with a tame caught and bowled after hitting a fluent 79.
Powerful Talha Junaid came in at number four and elegantly smashed an unbeaten 46 from only 22 balls to finish off the game in only 37 overs. Haniff finished on 54 not out.
Meanwhile, Bessborough seconds remain rooted to the bottom of the Middlesex County Cricket League Division Three as they were beaten by four wickets at home to South Hampstead.
Boro’s thirds held on for a well-earned losing draw against table-toppers MTSSC, who set an imposing target of 230 in their innings.
The fourths were outplayed in all departments by the runaway Middlesex 1987 League Division Five leaders Hampstead.
On Sunday, Bessborough suffered defeat for the first time in the Chess Valley League as Hampstead claimed the points.
