North Enfield Cricket Club’s 1st XI secured their Division 4B status for 2026 in the Hertfordshire Premier Cricket League with a six wicket victory at Reed on Saturday.
Half centuries from Kieran Jones (88*) and James Scott (54) saw them cruise to their target of 240 with 6.4 overs to spare.
Their run chase initially got off to a tricky start, with the early loss of William Munt (7) and Keith Alexander (2).
Jones continued to tick along at the other end though and shared a 107 run partnership with Tom Coughlan (48) to steady North Enfield after a difficult start.
When Jones reached his half century, North Enfield were in control, only for the dismissal of Coughlan to bring Reed right back into the game.
However, an onslaught from Scott soon after arriving at the crease then turned the tide in the visitors’ favour one final time and propelled them to the 30 points.
Opting to take down Reed’s spinner, Scott struck him for three massive sixes, including one onto the roof of Reed’s clubhouse, in addition to clubbing another over long on.
With four fours accompanying his four sixes, Scott raced to his own half century and when he was eventually caught after skying one up in the air, having shared a 94 stand with Jones, just two more runs were required for victory.
Captain Ishan Tilakaratna (1*) fittingly sealed the victory with a single through cover and confirmed his side’s spot in Division 4B for a second consecutive season.
North Enfield had earlier done well to pull Reed back and dismiss them for 239, when they had once seemed well on course for 300.
The pivotal moment was Reed’s number four retiring hurt with a back injury, when his side were 189 - 2, before Jones removed their opener for 83 in the very next over.
From that moment on, North Enfield were in the driving seat and Oliver Munt (3 - 48), Jones (3 - 41) and Coughlan (3 - 31) all claimed three wickets apiece to dismiss Reed for an under par total on a flat wicket.
Elsewhere, the club’s 2nd XI thrilling defeated Kimpton by just one run at Strayfield Road on Saturday, although the Friendly XI lost out to Pelicans by 110 runs on Sunday.
James Scott raises his bat after reaching a first half-century of the season (54) and helping North Enfield's 1s take the game away from Reed and secure their Division 4B status for next season.
Add comment
Comments