Four triumph as rain relents

After a washout on Tuesday, which saw the first two rounds of the MCC ‘Spirit of Cricket’ U13 National Club Championship national finals lost, the Third Round of games managed to beat the weather.

North Middlesex, Leamington, Yateley and Barton-under-Needwood all enjoyed success as the rain finally relented.

Old Northamptonians set a challenging total of 146 for five against North Middlesex with Vicram Sohal and Zaakir Khawaja both scoring 30 before retiring. Zulfiqar Azom was the pick of the attack with 4-17.

In reply Connor Nurse, Azom, Charlie Yorke-Starkey and Nicholas Friend all reached 30 as North Middlesex won the match by seven wickets with four balls to spare.

Hatherleigh batted first against Yateley and reached 75 for six with Jack Wood taking 4-7. Yateley then passed their target after only 11.3 overs for the loss of two wickets.

Leamington scored 137 for four against Wakefield Thornes with Mark Best scoring 32. In reply Wakefield fell short despite the best efforts of James Wolfenden (30) and Brad Green (28). Best capped an excellent all-round performance by taking a crucial 4-22.

Sheringham invited Barton-under-Needwood to bat and restricted the Derbyshire club to 89 for three in which Nathan Kidd top-scored with 30. Callum Taylor led the run chase with 34 but some excellent team-work by wicketkeeper Michael Graves and left-arm spinner Callum Brodrick put the brakes on the scoring when they combined to claim three stumpings.

Amongst the big bank of Barton supporters was ex-England cricketer Fred Rumsey, who lives in the village.

Scorecard - Leamington v Wakefield (23 KB)
Scorecard - Old Northamptonians v North Middlesex (23 KB)
Scorecard - Sheringham v Barton (23 KB)
Scorecard - Yateley v Hatherleigh (23 KB)