North Middlesex CC 1st XI vs Ealing CC 1st XI

North Middlesex v Ealing
Saturday 13th July 2019

A bit early to call this match a title decider but it certainly was a top of the table clash. North Middlesex won the toss, put Ealing into bat, and were rewarded with the crucial early wicket of Oli Wilkin who struck 4 consecutive boundaries before being bowed by and unplayable delivery. Shaw, Stoughton and Capel battled well but when the fifth wicket of Farrell went down, North Middlesex were jubilant and seemed an early victory. Ealing dug in but went to lunch at 90/5 with North Middlesex well on top. Soon after the controversial wicket of Barrett to a sneaky ‘stumping’. Connelly and Ensom then went on to put on a valuable 50 before Sivarajah took over with some powerful hitting for his 39 runs. Connelly posted his first 50 as Ealing fought their way to a respectable 222.

Early wickets were provided by Ensom and Martin leaving the game fairly balanced. However, North Middlesex seemed to have taken control with a fine 100 run stand until Ryan Farrell took the opportunity with the ball to take a magnificent sixfer. This was assisted by Sivarajah bowling a tight spell at the other end. This left North Middlesex hanging on for a draw. With Russell and Farrell bowing well, North Middlesex struggled to hold on. However with luck on their side, North Middlesex finished on 199/8.