HUNTINGDONSHIRE INDOOR LEAGUE:
Ufford Park are the Huntingdonshire Indoor League 2023/2024 champions for the 2nd time (and the first time since 2018/2019) after a dramatic day’s cricket at Bushfield Sports Centre. The day started with Ufford Park 3 points clear on 15 points with 5 wins from their first six matches, but the chasing pack were right behind them with Werrington, Hampton and AK11 all joined together on 12 points with 4 wins from their 6 matches.
The first match of the day saw Werrington convincingly beat Wansford taking them to 15 points. If Hampton beat Ufford and AK beat Sheikh, the league would have been log jammed with all teams on 15 points with 5 wins. The title would have been decided on head-to-head wins with Hampton beating more of the top teams so match two of the day was the winners take all match. Twice runners up Hampton started well and were 117-1 from 8 overs with Jawad Ali, Ali Ghazsanfar and Muhammad Jahangir all back in the dug out retired on 25. However, an outstanding 9th over from Usman Sadiq where he picked up 3 wickets and only conceded 10 runs backed up by a tight 10th over from Muhammad Raheel where he took a wicket and bowled 3 crucial dot balls restricted Hampton to 140-5 from their 10 overs. There was consistent batting throughout the innings with 5 players scoring 18-29 with opener Jawad Ali top scoring with 29.
Ufford started well and were 97-2 from 6 overs, needing 44 from the last 4 overs. However, a huge 7th over which saw 32 runs scored saw Ufford home 2 wickets down with 11 balls remaining. Three Ufford players scored heavily with Raheel unbeaten on 38 and quickfire mid 20’s from Usman Sadiq and captain Dan Peeroo seeing them to their second title, but their first for 5 years. After losing their 1st match of the season, Ufford won 6 on the bounce taking them to the title and will now represent Huntingdonshire in the ECB National Indoor Competition in February 2025. AK11, who won last years Hunts indoor League are representing Hunts in this year’s competition starting in mid-February.
Werrington finished runners up for the first time in their history and they signed off their season in style with a huge 77 run win against Wansford. Captain Muhammad Toseeq (31) Junaid Hussain and Hafiz Ali Butt (both 28) and 25 from Muhammad Shafiq were the batsman in form for Werrington in scoring 160-5 from their 10 overs. Wansford captain Kelsey Brace with 2-37 was the pick of the bowlers with Wansford fielder Dhasaradh Janardhan taking 2 excellent catches and executing a direct hit run out. Divyen Harish (24) and Janardhan (20) were the only Wansford batsman to make double figures as Toseeq led from the front with 2-12.
AK11’s last match was over before it really started after a crushing win against Sheikh. Sheikh were restricted to 69-5 from their 10 overs, as Sufyan Mazaher was virtually unplayable with 2-4 from his 2 overs. Sheikh indoor debutant Basharat Hussain top scored with 26. AK raced to victory reaching their total inside 5 overs with 31 balls remaining.
Pak Azad overtook Bretton in the last match of the indoor season. Bretton posted 112-4 from their 10 overs with experienced duo Neil Buckingham and Mark Drake both retiring. Haroon Bashir (28) Danyaal Mohammed (26) and Abdul Waris (25) saw Pak Azad over the line with 7 balls remaining.
SUNDAY 28TH JANUARY 2024:
WEEK 7 RESULTS:
Werrington beat Wansford by 77 runs.
Werrington 160-5 from 10 overs. Muhammad Toseeq 31 (2x6 and 1x4), Junaid Hussain 28 not out (1x4), Hafiz Butt 28 (2x6 and 1x4), Mudassar Shafiq 25 (3x4). Kelsey Brace 2-37
Wansford 83 all out from 9.3 overs. Divyen Harish 24 (1x6 and 2x4), Dhasaradh Janardhan 20 (1x6 and 1x4). Muhammad Toseeq 2-12.
Ufford Park beat Hampton by 4 wickets.
Hampton 140-5 from 10 overs. Jawad Ali 29 (2x6), Ali Ghazsanfar 27 (1x6 and 1x4), Muhammad Jahangir 25 (2x6 and 1x4), Muhammad Zafar 19 not out (1x6 and 1x4), Najeeb Ur-Rehman 18 (3x4). Usman Sadiq 3-19, Muhammad Raheel 2-22.
Ufford Park 141-2 from 8.1 overs. Muhammad Raheel 38 not out (2x6 and 3x4), Dan Peeroo 27 – Retired (1x6 and 2x4), Usman Sadiq 26 – Retired.
AK11 beat Sheikh by 4 wickets.
Sheikh 69-5 from 10 overs. Basharat Hussain 26 (2x6 and 1x4), Adnan Latif 14 (1x4). Sufyan Mazaher 2-4.
AK11 74-2 from 4.5 overs. Sufyan Mazaher 20 (1x6 and 2x4), Zaheer Abbas 19 not out (1x6 and 1x4), Abrar Ahmed 18 (2x4)
Pak Azad beat Bretton by 4 wickets.
Bretton 112-2 from 10 overs. Neil Buckingham 25 not out (3x4), Mark Drake 25 not out (2x4), Andy Bennett 17 not out, Mark Buckingham 16 (1x4)
Pak Azad 115-2 from 8.5 overs. Haroon Bashir 28 – Retired (2x6 and 2x4), Danyal Mohammed 26 – Retired (1x6 and 2x4), Abdul Waris 25 not out (3x4)
2023/2024 HUNTINGDONSHIRE INDOOR LEAGUE FINAL LEAGUE TABLE:
1st – Ufford Park P7, W6, L1, 18 points, 38 opposition wickets taken - Champions
2nd – Werrington P7, W5, L2, 15 points, 30 opposition wickets taken – Runners Up
3rd - AK11 P7, W5, L2, 15 points, 38 opposition wickets taken
4th - Hampton P7, W4, L3, 12 points, 26 opposition wickets taken
5th - Pak Azad P7, W4, L3, 12 points, 29 opposition wickets taken
6th - Bretton P7, W3, L4, 9 points, 29 opposition wickets taken
7th - Sheikh P7, W1, L6, 0 points, 16 opposition wickets taken
8th - Wansford P7, W0, L7, 0 points, 29 opposition wickets taken
NOTE:
- 3 points for a win.
- Werrington above AK11 on head-to-head win earlier in the season.
- Hampton above Pak Azad on head-to-head win earlier in the season.
- Sheikh deducted 3 points for a concession against Ufford Park. Ufford Park receive 3 points and 6 opposition wickets.
HUNTINGDONSHIRE INDOOR CRICKET LEAGUE, ORGANISED BY CRICKET EAST AND PETERBOROUGH LIMITED BUSHFIELD SPORTS CENTRE:
2023/2024 ROLL OF HONOUR
- HUNTINGDONSHIRE INDOOR LEAGUE WINNERS – UFFORD PARK
- HUNTINGDONSHIRE INDOOR LEAGUE RUNNERS UP – WERRINGTON
MERIT TABLE – PLAYERS WHO HAVE SCORED 50 OR MORE IN AN INDOOR INNINGS:
81 not out - Jawad Ali (Hampton)
78 not out – Sharoz Hussain (Pak Azad)
77 - Shehzad Akhter (Werrington)
75 not out - Waheed Javed (Ufford Park)
69 - Ali Ghazsanfar (Hampton)
61 - Kester Sainsbury (Wansford)
60 not out - Mark Buckingham (Bretton)
58 not out - Shehzad Akhter (Werrington)
56 - Zaheer Abbas (AK11)
54 not out – Jawad Ghani (Hampton)
53 - Wajahat Haider (Pak Azad)
50 - Ethan Bennett (Bretton)
