BEN JONES-LEE (49- b 29/10/1976- d 30/04/2026)
4th May 2026
1864'S BRAVE IN DEFEAT TO LEAGUE LEADERS ANNFIELD PLAIN. Sat 23 May 2026: NTCL Div 5 South: SN 1864 v Annfield Plain (a) 40/40
23rd May 2026
SNCC 1864 190-8 (40o) Belinda Wewalage 25, Aadi Bethanabatla 52, Fraser Hall 16, Matthew Rathbone 29: Marcus Bowden 0-29, Miguel Ribero 1-29, Samit Sandhu 1-26, Declan Mackay 2-44, Craig Smith 2-26, Ian Murray 2-25.
Annfield Plain 191-2 (34.5o) Akm Neaz 77*, Craig Smith 34, David Brewis 16, Graham Carr 56*: Tom Oliver 0-24, Manas Kakkar 0-14, Leo Harper 0-28, Archit Upadhye 1-37, Waheed Safi 1-60, Dominic Johnson 1-27.
Annfield Plain won by 8 wickets- 29 points, 1864 6.
The battle of the top two in Div 5 south was emphatically won by Annfield Plain as the 1864's commendable total of 190 was overtaken in only 34.5 overs by the powerful Plain batters.
A sunny day at Enterprise Park, the 64's won the toss & chose to bat, with a very short boundary on one side. Wewalage & Bethanabatla faced the seam of Bowden & Ribero. 8 boundaries in the first 8 overs as Belinda hit to leg & Aadi drove or pulled. But at 40, Belinda (21, 26b, 5x4) drove Ribero to mid off.
As the seam of Sandhu & sla of Mackay entered the attack, another good partnership of 47 between Aadi & Fraser Hall developed. Fraser driving straight or through cover but at 87 in the 17th Fraser (16, 29b 3x4) edged a drive & was caught off Sandhu.
Aadi drove Mackay straight for 6 but at 111 in the 22nd he advanced to the same bowler, missed & was stumped for an excellent 52, (54b, 8x4 1x6). Matty Rathbone had been defending well but attacking shots were hitting fielders.
Waheed Safi (18, 27b 4x4) drove & pulled boundaries off Sandhu & Mackay but at 146 in the 30th he top edged a pull off Mackay & was caught at short fine leg. Two overs later Leo Harper (2) was bowled by Murray (rm). At 155 in the 35th Jack Seymour (4) was lbw to Smith (rm), 6 down.
Matty Rathbone's vigil (29, 61b, 1x4) came to an end in the 39th when he was bowled by Smith & in the last over Tom Oliver (1) was bowled by Murray.
In reply Akm Neaz & Craig Smith faced the seam of Tom Oliver (lm) & Manas Kakkar (rm). Tom began with two maidens but the partnership blossomed as Smith driving & Neaz pulling took, regular boundaries as Leo Harper & Archit began spells.
Going at only 4 an over at 80 Smith (34, 62b 6x4) was bowled by an Archit googly ! Waheed bowling off spin had the short boundary to square leg & suffered. Archit finished his 9 over spell with a most creditable 1-37. At 117 in the 28th Brewis (16) was bowled by Waheed.
Carr entered & batted positively as both Waheed's & Dominic Johnson's off spin suffered. Driving straight or slog sweeping Carr won the game for the home team in the 35th with 2 more boundaries, Carr (56*, 31b, 7x4, 2x6) & opener Neaz ( 77*, 91b, 9x4, 4x6); 74 runs conceded in 7 overs.
The fielding seemed to have wilted under the onslaught, some wandering from exact positions & some possible catches not taken, disappointing after such a commendable first half.
This defeat leaves the team in 6th place, 25 points behind leaders Annfield Plain.
Onward & a chance to bounce back on Sat 30 May SNCC 1864 v Blaydon (h) 40/40 from 1300. We hope you can be there.
Duncan.