Saturday saw the return of club indoor cricket as Middlesex in the Community hosted the first round of group stage games at Laurel Park School in Arnos Grove.
Group A saw Tetherdown Trundlers, Railway Taverners and former County Champions and National Finalists Ickenham contest for a place in the Quarter Finals.
The first game saw the Taverners taking on the Trundlers, with the Taverners put in to bat. A competitive Taverners total of 112 in their 10 overs, with James Thexton top scoring with 32 off 21 deliveries, proved too many for the Trundlers, who fell 12 runs short in their pursuit, with Oliver Buxton top scoring with 25 off 16. Thexton capped a fine game, finishing as the pick of the Taverners bowlers, with terrific figures of 4-20 from 2.4 overs.
Looking to bounce back from defeat, the Trundlers took on a strong Ickenham side, who elected to field and were able to bowl out their opposition for 49. A brutal 25* off 12 balls from Elliot Evans helped Ickenham to chase down the total in half the overs, only losing 1 wicket in the process.
The final match of the group to determine who would go through to the quarter final saw the winners of the opening two matches going head to head, and it was Ickenham who won the toss and elected to bat. Some big hitting and sensible shot placement saw them score 122 in their 10 overs, with both openers retiring on 25.
The Taverners couldn’t have got off to a worse start, with star man from the first game, Thexton, spooning the ball to point off the very first ball of the innings. Some very tight bowling and neat fielding meant that they could only reach 27 from 6 overs before losing all of their wickets.
This saw Ickenham as the first side through to the quarter finals, but most importantly it was fantastic to see people playing cricket in good spirit, and enjoying themselves.
Due to a late dropout, Group B saw a one-match shootout between West Harrow and Stanmore to determine who would join Ickenham in progressing through to the quarter finals.
Losing the toss and being asked to bat, a young Stanmore side put in a strong performance, but were unable to bat their overs, dismissed for 92, with a fantastic 32 from 23 balls from A Patel the highlight of the innings.
A brutal response from West Harrow saw the runs chased down in just 6.5 overs, only losing 1 wicket in the process, with some savage hitting from S Patel's the standout knock of the reply, with 26 off just 8 balls.
The two sides then played a very tight friendly, where West Harrow edged a 1 run victory defending 95.
West Harrow and Ickenham progress through to the quarter final stages, and wait to see who they'll come up against.
Pictured below are the five squads competing and Saturday's match officials:
Top row, from left to right - Tetherdown Trundlers, Railway Taverners & Ickenham
Bottom row, from left to right - West Harrow, Stanmore & the match officials
