Harlow Town 243-6 off 46 overs v Old Southendians & Southchurch 242-9 off 50 overs.

HARLOW Town moved off the bottom of Division 2 of the Essex League at Ashtree Field on Saturday with a convincing win at the expense of Old Southendians & Southchurch who are now only one place above them.

The visitors won the toss and elected to bat on what turned out to be a somewhat slow surface. Town picked up an early wicket with the score on 6, but then Chris Bunce, 42 and Connor Mortlock, 52 put on 95 together before Dan Farmer dismissed Bunce, but another stand between Khawaja, 37 and Raza, 37, left Town looking down the barrel.

Then, as so often happens in sport, things changed from 206-4, Old Southendians plunged to 242-9 when they reached their 50 overs, as the Town bowling attacked, backed up by determined fielding had pulled the score back dramatically – Daniel Farmer 3-46, Ben Eversden 2-47, Sam Childs 2-54 and Suraj Chauhan 2-51 the wicket takers. The bowlers had done their job reducing the visitors to a below par score thanks to superb figures from Jibran Azam who went for 22 runs from his 10 overs.

It was now the batsmen’s turn, despite losing Dan Farmer cheaply, opening partner Shaun Alderson was in blistering form, completely destroying Old Southendian’s opening attack with a great innings full of brilliant cricket shots as he raced to 50 off just 36 balls. Along with Suraj Chauhan, the pair put on 91 for the second wicket, taking Town to 109-1. At this stage the visitor‘s skipper had to find someone to stem the tide, so threw Ahmed Khawaja into the attack and he picked up both Alderson, 67 and Chauhan, 37.

With the score now at 112-3, Town’s Joe Holland entered the arena and in the mood to show why he is considered one of the best batsmen in the league, driving when the deliveries were full, pulling and hooking when they were short, ably assisted by Jibran Azam, 37 and Neil Gladwin, 13 not out, Holland saw his team home by 4 wickets, carrying his bat for 66 not out. A much-needed victory and 20 points and a good all round performance by Dan Farmer’s team.

Walthamstow II 142-4 off 23.5 Overs v Harlow Town II 140 all out off 36 overs.

It was a disappointing performance as Town lost away to Walthamstow. Batting first, Town found themselves 20-4, the mid order tried to rebuild with Tristan Rees top scoring with 40 and Marc Lowers with 37 however it wasn’t enough as Town were all out for 140.

In reply, Paull Morrel picked up an early wicket but Walthamstow were in control and saw the game home by 6 wickets. Morrell taking 2 wickets, Sam Wilson & George Richardson sharing one each.

Harlow Town III 173 all out off 40.5 overs v Walthamstow III 177-6 off 31.2 overs.

Town looked to build last week’s win, Batting first Town were all out for 177 with Vic Goddard top scoring with 57 and contributions from Tony Curtis, Connor Teale and Raju Murugaiyan.

Town picked up 2 early wickets and put the pressure on the visitors at 6-2 however Walthamstow rebuilt and won by 4 wickets inside the 32 overs.
Birchanger II 230-7 off 40 overs v Harlow Town IV 164 all out off 33.3 overs.

The hosts set 230 from their 40 overs after being in a tough situation of 110-6 however Cole helped post a strong score with 79 not out. Suzanna Cavadino, John Rogan & Paul Smith both picked up 2 wickets each.

In reply, Town could only manage 164 all out with Simon Cavadino top scoring with 65.