1864'S CONTINUE WINNING WAYS AT GREENSIDE. CENTURIES FOR GEORGE GRAY & WILL CARR, 4 WICKETS FOR FINN BIRTWISLE

29th Aug 2026

Sat 29 Aug 2026: NTCL Div 5 South: SNCC v Greenside (a) 40/40.

SNCC 286-6 (40o) George Gray 101, Will Carr 103, Varun Gudipati 18, Elliott Mee 29: Andrew Britten 0-41, Lucas Bell 1-42, Liam Melvin 1-44, Tom Hinch 0-48, Trinadh Kurate 0-11, Liam Haney 0-24, Rob Bell 1-30, Avtar Dhillon 1-30.

Greenside 177(ao) Kieran Barker 22, Tom Hinch 43, Andrew Britten 34, Jonathon Dodds 16, Manoj Kunapareddy 17: Varun Gudipati 1-32, Manas Kakkar 1-27, George Gray 2-16, Elliott Mee 0-24, Finley Birtwisle 4-36, Dominic Johnson 0-15, Matthew Scott 1-14.

SNCC 1864 won by 109 runs - 30 points, Greenside 8.

A sunny day at Greenside, a flat wicket, the home team chose to field. Aadi & George faced the seam of Britten & L Bell. Disaster from ball one as Aadi pushed into the offside George called & Aadi (0) was  beaten by a direct hit at the non- striker's end !

There followed the highest 2^nd wicket partnership of the season for any team between George Gray & Will Carr of 166 ! A chanceless stand in which George had more of  the strike as the bowlers toiled. 52-1 after 12 overs, George 45* (8x4 1x6), Will 4*.

The medium pace of Melvin, Hinch & Kurate & the off spin of Haney were unsuccessful as the pair took the total to 130 at the end of the 21^st over, when R Bell began & Britten returned.

In the 25^th over Will got to 50* (5x4 1x6) & in the next a single off R Bell took George to 100* ( 17x4 1x6). A magnificently attacking innings pulling to leg, driving straight & over the leg side which ended in over 28 when he was caught at long on by Dhillon off R Bell, George 101 (95b, 17x4, 2x6). 166-2.

Varun stroked an immediate boundary & Will accelerated, the total rising to 207 in the 31^st when Varun (18) was bowled by Dhillon, 3 down. Elliott Mee was equally positive driving & pulling 3x4 off Dhillon in the second over he faced. The partnership had reached 47 in the 38^th when Elliott (29,19b 6x4) skied to mid wicket, 254-4. Matty Rathbone (0) was run out as his quick single was defeated by a direct hit from mid wicket at the same score.

Will entered the 90's with  a 6 off Melvin & then 2x4 in the next took him to 103 (100b, 11x4, 4x6) but two balls later, a top edged pull was caught at cover 269-6. Another chanceless display from Will driving down the ground, through cover & pulling to leg. He seems to like Greenside having stroked 89 in the pre season friendly on the same ground !

Manas (10*) attacked, taking 2x4 in the last over, Jack Seymour 1*, the final total 286-6.

Greenside had scored 300 in the pre season  friendly so nothing to take for granted. Barker & Haney faced the seam of Varun (Pavilion) & Manas (tennis court). A wicket in over 3 as Haney (6) edged Varun to Aadi at slip.

40 off 8 overs as both Britten & Dodds took advantage of variations of length & Matty (w/k) standing up had to be alert to legside deliveries. In over 10, having conceded 4,then 2, Manas bowled Dodds (16) with a nice outswinger,51-2.

This became 57-3 two overs later in George's second over as Barker (22) aiming to pull off the back foot was bowled. There followed a partnership of 71 in 15 overs between Britten & Hinch as George, Dominic (ob), Elliott (lb) & Finn (sla) attacked.

Then 4 wickets fell in 4 overs. Finn Birtwisle (sla) had begun a spell in over 21 & he bowled 9 tidy overs taking a match defining 4-36. In over 28 Britten (34) swung Finn to deep square leg where Will Carr, moving in & diving, took a very good, low catch.

Three balls later Kurate (1) was caught by George at mid wicket, 128-5. In his next Finn persuaded R Bell (5) to drive to point where Manas obliged. In over 32 Matthew Scott, with his 5^th delivery, took the important wicket of Hinch (43) who missed a big shot to be bowled, 144-7.

Finley & Matthew continued to bowl overs 32-37 & the 35^th Finn took his 4th wicket as L Bell (6) advanced but missed a big drive to be stumped by Matty, 154-8.

In the 37th over, Kunapareddy (17) after striking 2x4, was run out after a slight misfield persuaded a run to be taken only to be beaten, by the throw from Manas at mid on to bowler Finn, 168-9.

Elliott & George returned & it was George in over 39 who bowled Melvin (4) sealing another good win for the 64's. Three or four chances not able to be taken were the only blemish in another encouraging performance highlighted by the outstanding  partnership between George & Will & Finn's 4 wickets.

The 64's remain in 5^th place in Div 5 South on 370 points, two ahead of Matfen & three of Blaydon with two league games to play.

Onward to:

Sat 5 Sept SNCC 1864 v Newton (h) 1300 40/40.

Sat 12 Sept SNCC1864 v Corbridge (a) 1300 40/40.

We hope you can be there to cheer the team on & be with us for the annual Awards night on Sat 19 Sept from 1800.

Duncan.