Ethan Bamber

THE bowlers put on a show on Saturday as North Middlesex toppled title rivals Teddington to take over at the top of the Middlesex County Cricket League.

Having won the toss at their home ground in Park Road, Hornsey, North Midd elected to bat first. But runs proved hard to come by with opener Alex MacQueen’s knock of 37 and Matthew Moran’s hard-fought 27 offering little respite from Abdullah Nazir’s pinpoint bowling.

The hosts were struggling on 63-4 until Hassan Khan arrived at the crease and duly set about scoring a much-needed 57 off 73 balls in a stand that included three fours and two sixes.

His efforts helped North Midd put 209 on the board before being dismissed after 57 overs – a pretty good total considering the work Nazir put in with the ball as he took five wickets for 65 runs.

North Midd made a good start in the field with George Garrett trapping Joe Ludlow lbw to leave Teddington on 7-1. But Harry Evans came in and threatened to take the game away from the home side as he hit a rapid 67 off 69 balls.

Jeremy Warner helped turn the tide, however, as he removed Evans on his way to earning figures of 3-52, while Middlesex man Ethan Bamber ramped up the pressure further as he brought his first-class experience to the fold to take 3-33.

Highlighting North Midd’s strength in depth with the ball in hand, MacQueen also took 3-41 as Teddington were bowled out for 178 in the 51st over to seal a 31-run victory.

The result sees North Midd leapfrog Teddington at the top of the Premier Division – a position they will be expected to hold on to this Saturday when they entertain a Hornsey side struggling at the foot of the table.

Meanwhile, Hampstead again missed out on victory by just one wicket in their match away at Ealing.

Ciaran Johnson put in one of the performances of the day with the bat as he scored a stonking 145 off 187 balls, including 18 fours and a six. It gave Hampstead what should have been a match-winning score of 304-9 off 64.5 overs.

But despite the efforts of Ben Lockrose, who took five wickets at the expense of just 19 runs, Ealing managed to hang on as they ended play on 156-9 to earn what had seemed an unlikely draw.

The result earned Hampstead five points, leaving them seventh in the 10-team table.