MIDDLESEX COUNTY LEAGUE DIVISION TWO
Harrow Town 248 all out
Brentham 173-8
Winning draw for Harrow Town
HARROW Town remain in the drop-zone this week after running out of steam against Brentham.
The relegation-threatened side knocked up a decent total at the crease, but failed to dismiss a stubborn Brentham and had to settle for a winning draw.
It keeps Town second from bottom in Division Two, four points shy of Uxbridge and the safety of eighth position.
Brentham won the toss on a scorching Saturday afternoon and chose to field.
The home side suffered an early blow as Abid Javeed was caught leg before having put just four on the board.
There were several hiccups along the way as Nilam Jayman (six), Uzairuddin Mohammed (four) and Buddhi Attanayake (nought) all failed to make an impression.
But Town went on to make 248 in their 50 overs, with skipper Gihan Herath making 55, supported well by Indrajith Halpage (52).
Town’s top order had collapsed to 65-5 before the recovery led them to their considerable total, which Herath felt confident would deliver maximum points.
Taking possession of the ball, Town’s bowlers started off poorly as Brentham raced to 50 inside the opening seven overs.
Halpage (2-25) created the breakthrough as Brentham found it difficult against Town’s tricky spinners.
Wickets were falling at regular intervals and Brentham fell to 120-7 and there for the taking, with 15 overs to go.
But a dropped catch from Javed proved crucial as Brentham hung on for a draw, ending on 173-8, giving four points to Harrow Town.
Meanwhile, Town’s second-string kept up their promotion ambitions with an outstanding victory over neighbours MTSSC in the Middlesex Championship.
MTSSC won the toss and surprisingly chose to bat and it proved to be a poor decision as Ali Sardar (2-26) got a wicket in his first over.
Skipper Talib Malik (5-13) tore apart MTSSC’s batting with a terrific spell as they crashed to 53 all out, with Raj Bhadresa (3-1) cleaning up the tail.
Town, who host leaders Osterley on Saturday, wasted no time in reaching the target as openers Parth Goradia (21 not out) and Bhavik Thakkar (31 not out) finished things off inside eight overs.
The thirds lost to Ealing fourths after being bowled out for 71 as Omar Ramroop (22) was the only one to show any fight, with Town’s batting frailty continued.
Ealing chased down the target with only three wickets down, two being taken by Rikki Patel.
