North Weald Friendly XI vs North Enfield Friendly XI (A) - Sunday 27th April 2025

North Enfield Cricket Club’s Friendly XI strolled to a comfortable five-wicket victory at a sun-baked North Weald Cricket Club on Sunday, courtesy of a strong all-round performance.

A composed half century from Irfan Ali (62) and 62 run partnership between the former and Freddie Pearson (26*) guided the visitors to the win with 10.1 overs to spare, after North Weald posted 136 - 6 from their 40 overs.

Ali came to the crease with North Enfield in a spot of bother at 24 - 2, after the early loss of Ishan Tilakaratna (5) and William Munt (0), before the further loss of Chris Gillman (26) and Atula Tilakaratna (9) saw them wobbling at 65 - 4.

Alongside F. Pearson though, Ali soon ensured that a North Enfield victory was beyond doubt, as he hit 12 fours and implemented the slog sweep particularly well in his 72 ball stay at the crease.

By the time he fell, North Enfield were just 10 runs away from the win and a father and son Pearson duo saw them over the line, as Andrew (5*) joined Freddie to see them home.

North Weald had earlier fought back well to reach 136 - 6, after only reaching 36 - 3 at the halfway stage of their innings.

F. Pearson and Oliver Munt kept a tight reign on the scoring early on, with the former picking up North Enfield’s first wicket with a delivery that jagged back to hit leg stump.

Further wickets from Joe Murphy and David Malleson meant that the hosts were floundering at drinks and a first wicket of the day for captain Abbie Jones soon after the interval saw them fall to 68 - 4.

However, a well compiled half century from North Weald’s number three and some lower order hitting pushed them up to 136 - 6, despite further wickets from O. Munt and Jones.

The target set never really looked to be enough and even with an early wobble, North Enfield were able to cruise over the line for a first victory of the season.

Elsewhere, North Enfield’s Friendly XI fell to an 86 run defeat at South Loughton on Saturday, whilst next week sees home friendlies against Datchworth and Stage at Strayfield Road.