1864'S MYSTERY TOUR SUCCESSFUL IN HAYDON BRIDGE. Sat 6 June 2026: NTCL Div 5 South: SNCC 1864 v Gosforth Strikers (a) 40/40.

6th Jun 2026

Gosforth Strikers 106ao (34.3o) Amrit Kapoor 51, Prashant Thawari 15, Cijo Xavier 17*: Aryan Kalluri 1-8, Thomas Hunter 2-12, Varun Gudipati 0-28, Leo Harper 2-2, Dominic Johnson 0-29, Arjun Godse 1-10, Thomas Young 1-15.

SNCC 1864 107 -3 (23.3o) Ben Hobbs 33, Will Oliver 11, Varun Gudipati 23, Matty Rathbone 18*, Aryan Kalluri 11*: Cijo Xavier 0-18, Prashant Thawari 0-15, Sajeer Noohumuhammed 1-20, Sonu John 0-21, Jackson Abraham 1-17, Amrit Kapoor 0-5, Kamesh Lalam 0-8.

SNCC 1864 won by 7 wickets- 30 points, Gosforth Strikers 3.

Setting out to find the ground at Riverdale Hall, Bellingham, the registered address of the Strikers, the 1864's discovered that the game was to be played at Haydon Bridge High School. Arriving 15 minutes before the start the 64's won the toss & chose to field.

The ground had a steep downhill to the wicket & an outfield that contained several holes. Aryan Kalluri (rm) & Thomas Hunter (lm) were faced by openers Vaghese & Lalam. A wicket in over two as Vaghese (1) drove Thomas to Paddy at mid off. Another for Thomas in over 4 as Selvaraj (0) was caught at fine leg by Aryan, 4-2, a reward for a consistent line & length.

16-2 after 8 overs when Varun Gudipati & Leo Harper entered the attack. Varun could find no rhythm running downhill & the left handed Kapoor pulled merrily. Leo had better luck & bowled a splendid spell taking the wicket of Lalam (3) bowled at 27 in the 10th.

Leo took another in the 12th as Geo John (0) was also bowled, the ball swinging nicely, 38-4. Kapoor & Thawari resisted. The total had risen to 57 in the 18^th when Leo's spell ended 5-0-2-2. Dominic Johnson & Arjun Godse joined the attack. 

At 84 in the 24^th Kapoor (51) advanced to Arjun, swung & was bowled, 5 down. Arjun bowled a nice spell, wicket to wicket, 6-0-10-1. The total rose slowly as Thomas Young's leg spin entered the attack & he was successful as Thawari (15) cut to point where Thomas Hunter took a neat catch.

In over 31 bowled by Thomas Young, two run outs courtesy of Paddy Rathbone as both Abraham (0) a direct hit from mid on & Noohumohammed (0) via a dropped chance were both dismissed. In the 35^th the returning Aryan Kalluri bowled Sonu John (0) with a yorker. Only 10 batters so 106 all out. 

Thomas Hunter & Leo the pick in a good all round display backed up by good fielding on a difficult surface, especially Will Oliver on the short boundary.

In reply Ben Hobbs & Will Oliver faced the C Xavier & P Thawari. The wicket was slow & timing not easy. 38 without loss after 9 overs but then Will (11) was caught by C Xavier off Abraham at cover, aiming to hit over the top. Varun joined Ben & the pair pushed on as change bowlers S Noohumohammed & S John took over.

The total had reached 67 in the 16^th when Ben (33) mostly driven off the front foot down the ground, aimed to go straight again but found Abraham at mid on. Varun (23, 2x4) was batting nicely in partnership with Matty Rathbone, who had pulled 2x4, but he called optimistically for a single, hit straight to mid off & a direct hit to the bowler's stumps, ran him out, 90-3 in the 22nd over.

The win was secured within two overs as Aryan Kalluri struck 3, then 2, 6 straight to win the game after 2 balls of the 24^th over. A good win after a mysterious journey up the Tyne Valley. The 64's in 4^th place in Div 5 South, Greenside in second place.

Onward to Sat 13 June SNCC 1864 v Greenside (h) from 1300 40/40. We hope you can be there.

Duncan.