Belmont & Edgware were beaten by 50 runs as Harrow St. Mary’s maintained their unbeaten record with a 50-run victory.

HSM arrived at the Met Police Ground an hour late and after winning the toss, Belmont & Edgware captain Ashley Connick invited them to bat first.

In a match reduced to 35 overs a side, Daniel Geey and Warren Averbuch opened the bowling, before Neil Myeroff and Connick took over to stem the flow of runs in the middle overs.

Myeroff was miserly as ever, conceding only 20 from his seven overs and picking up two wickets, whilst Connick, bowling off-spin, took 3-36.

Geey removed the one HSM batsman to really get going for 56, while Jonny Evans and Joel Phillips picked up a wicket apiece. Simon Durban effected a run out after a suicidal call, and HSM finished their allotted overs on 210-9.

In reply, Connick and Evans got BECC off to a flier. Connick took 16 from the first over, whilst Evans hit two boundaries in his first seven balls. However, the match took a twist when Evans was dismissed from the 8th delivery he faced, and Connick, having found the boundary eight times, fell for 34.

BECC were ahead of the rate but had two new men in, and the scoring rate declined as the rebuilding began. As has been the case so often this season, wickets falling regularly meant that the run chase never really recovered.

Geey (20), Joel Phillips (17) and Rafi Addlestone (17) kept the scoreboard ticking while Nick Mcleod, relieved of wicketkeeping duties for the first time this season, found the energy that is often sapped behind the stumps still present when he went out to bat, and he took BECC towards the target.

Mcleod’s was the final wicket to fall with the score at 160, though, and BECC fell short by 50 runs.

Middlesex League Division 3

Belmont & Edgware won the toss and elected to field (match reduced to 35 overs because HSM arrived late)

HSM 210-9 Ashley Connick 3-36, Neil Myeroff 2-20
Belmont & Edgware CC 160 Nick McLeod 35, Ashley Connick 34
BECC lost by 50 runs