Weekend Roundup 15/16 July
In an eventful clash between Preston 1’s and Hemel Hempstead, players experienced all four seasons in a single day. Preston’s visiting team won the toss and chose to bat first. They made a solid start, reaching 56 runs without losing any wickets in the first 14 overs before rain interrupted play. After the rain delay, the match was reduced to 37 overs for Preston and 33 overs for Hemel Hempstead.
Preston’s openers, Ed Wharton (30) and James Stevens (34), altered their strategy and adopted a more aggressive approach. Despite the challenging conditions, Preston performed admirably, with contributions from Phil Simpson (28) and Daniel Scholz (35), helping them reach a total of 186 runs in their allotted 37 overs. In response, Preston’s bowlers came out firing. Ed Wharton (2/40) and Daniel Scholz took early wickets, leaving Hemel Hempstead at 33/2. Hemel’s key player, Brett Penny (37), fought back against the Preston attack, keeping the game balanced at 94/4 by the halfway mark. However, Preston set a cunning trap that allowed Casey Walker (1/30) to dismiss Penny, a crucial breakthrough.
With limited overs remaining for both teams, the focus shifted to securing a winning draw. Hemel Hempstead needed to achieve a target of 166 runs. Preston held their nerve, displaying exceptional fielding skills and an outstanding second spell from man of the match Daniel Scholz (4/50). Hemel found themselves falling short of the winning draw target and resorted to playing out the remaining overs for a draw, finishing with a score of 158/8.
Preston celebrated a well-deserved winning draw, earning 14 points in the process. They climbed to 5th place in the league with other favourable results.
A wet, squally and temperamental day made the Preston 2’s v Leverstock Green 2’s encounter a tricky affair in what turned out to be a reduced 37 over match which saw Leverstock get passed the post as winners by three wickets in a very tight encounter. Preston took first knock but were quickly under the cosh losing four fairly quick wickets to some excellent Leverstock bowling. It took No 5 Ashley Catlin (36) and young Jacob Williamson (30) to start to inch up the scoreboard towards a decent total. However, the lack of any wagging tail meant PReston closed on an under-par 130/9 off their 37.
The Preston attack bowled well with Patel taking 3/18 being the pick of the Preston attack. However a sensible 56 from Iqbal and supported by Revell (30) swung the balance of the game towards Leverstock who reached 134/7 off 36.4 overs. Another twenty or so Preston runs could have made the game very interesting but it wasn’t to be. A well-managed match which came down to the final few balls and played in the correct spirit in tough conditions. Don’t mind losing those.
Preston 3’s lost to Cockfosters by 5 wickets having been bowled out for just 82.
In a rain-affected match between Preston 4s and Stevenage 5s, which was reduced to 30 overs per side, Stevenage emerged victorious over Preston. Despite an early lifeline, Stevenage’s Kommari (60) displayed aggressive hitting after the rain delay. However, I Williamson’s remarkable three-wicket over (3-6) limited Stevenage to a total of 142-8. Preston faced difficulties in scoring due to accurate bowling and exceptional fielding from Stevenage, resulting in a lack of runs. Craig Tennant (39) was the sole batsman to reach double figures as Preston managed 89-8, succumbing to a 53-run defeat a lack of runs. Craig Tennant (39) was the sole batsman to reach double figures as Preston.
Preston Sunday 1’s beat Elstow CC by 24 runs. Preston reached 190/9 off 40 and bolwed out Elstow for 166 with Jaydev Jadev claiming 5/29 off 8 overs.
The junior’s have also recorded some impressive performances this week with the highlight being the U9’s tied with Stevenage with both sides on 290/5…!