A FANTASTIC century from Ramya Upadhyay was not enough to get Harlow Town over the line as they tied with Newham in a frenetic game in East London on Saturday. 

Skipper Ronnie Yates lost the toss, with the home side electing to bat first on a very warm day. On a smaller than usual field, and with a flat wicket the batsman were in charge all day. Despite Sam Wilson making a couple of early breakthroughs, the Newham batters were able to score quite freely with most scores being either 1 or 4.

Tom Wilcox bowled exceptionally well and was rewarded with the important wicket of Arsalan Khan who had scored a well compiled 62. Captain Yates also picked up a wicket, whilst Dan Baldwin was the 4^th bowler Town had on the day. In the end three home batters scored half centuries, but Town felt confident having restricted the home team to 274 in 50 overs with a very flat wicket and an attacking batting lineup. The bowling stats were Wilcox (1-43 from 13 overs), Wilson (2-66 from 12 overs, Yates (1-86 from 15 overs) and Baldwin (0-68 from 10 overs). 

As this was a timed match Town only had 45 overs to reach the target set, otherwise the match would be drawn, or in this case tied. After bowling 10 overs in the field, the versatile Baldwin opened the batting with Joe Spiers putting on 72 for the first wicket. Town were grateful for some wayward bowling that when combined with the small boundaries kept the score ticking over.

Joe edged to slip for 18 and Baldwin fell shortly after for 31. Town were still scoring freely and Ramya Upadhyay and Ausman Ginai put on a swift 82 partnership to put Town firmly in control, however when Ginai fell for 20, this set about a mini collapse as Town lost Darryl Pettengell (0) and Shaun Alderson (1) for only 11 more runs. Ben Tyne (14) and Scott Alderson (13) attempted to settle the innings as they supported Ramya on the way to his 100, however after both had fallen the score was 246-7 with only 3 overs remaining.

It was unclear whether Town were going to dig in and not lose or attempt the unlikely and go for the full 20 points. With Ronnie Yates supporting him, Ramya went on to hit lovely free flowing shots to reach his century and put Town within touching distance of the victory. Ramya fell the next ball after his century, leaving Town needing 15 from the last 2 overs. Yates and Wilson managed to score 14, including an imperious 4 from Yates with the last ball of the game leaving the match a tie, with both teams picking up 6 points plus bonus points.

With results going Town’s way including 3^rd placed Goresbrook and previous league leaders Stanford-le-Hope both losing, Town ascended to the top of the league. They welcome Stnaford-le-Hope to Ash Tree Field on Saturday looking to continue with their good scoring form and consolidate their league position. 

Elsewhere Town 2^nd XI lost at home to Leigh-on-Sea 2^nd XI, due to selection issues Town were not able to select their strongest team and were made to pay by an experienced Leigh on Sea team. Jay Lowles and Luke Luckin top scored for Town, while Vineet Jain, Dan Dewey and Tyrone Mazarura also chipped in. Leigh were able to knock the runs off for the loss of 1 wicket. The Third XI were made to pay for numerous missed opportunities as they were defeated by tenants Lion Hawks, who scored a massive 309 from their 40 overs, 130 of those runs scored by a batsman dropped multiple times while still in single and early teens figures. Town started exceptionally in reply, thanks to a 50 from skipper James Williamson and a great 88 from Alex Manning, Andy Bird, John Rogan and Hansal Dave also helped move the team along however the lower order was unable to add the required runs needed.

Harlow Town also moved into the quarter finals of the League Cup after defeating Wickford by 1 run in a match where the result could’ve been won off the bat, by the bowling, or by the toss of a coin. With the weather forecast looking less than favourable, Town asked Wickford if they would consider play a 20 over game to get a result in however this was turned down. Winning the toss Yates opted to bat first with Town putting on 214-5 from their 45 overs thanks to a fantastic 57 not out from Shaun Alderson, whilst Baldwin, Spiers, Tyne and Pat Yates all chipped in with runs.

The second innings was delayed by rain meaning that Wickford had a reduced target of 203 from 40 overs.

Rain arrived at drinks (20 overs), and the DLS par score was 103, whereas Wickford were 101-4. Played didn’t restart and Town were victorious by 1 run, their reward is an away trip to Premier Division Wanstead and Snaresbrook later in the summer in what will be a challenging game for the team.