Home Draw for 1st XI

Harlow retained second place in Division 1 after an evenly-fought draw with a strong Harold Wood side. Rehman Ahmed took the positive option of electing to bowl first and try and chase down the win but ultimately the side needed to settle for the draw.
Aggressive batting by Harold Wood side on a very good batting track meant a potentially challenging afternoon for the Harlow bowlers. A particularly cavalier knock by Craig Sampson (78), ably supported by Raihan Hussain (78) and Craig Perrin (61), threatened to take the visitors past 300. In the event a flurry of late wickets restricted Harold Wood to 278-9 off 50 overs. Nicky Baxter and Mitch Howarde, Harlow’s leading wicket takers in the league this season (both with 11), each picked up three wickets. The ‘Champagne Moment of the Day’ occurred when Shafique launched a delivery from Baxter towards the clubhouse, mid-way between Nathan Khelawon and Mustanser Meraj. The pair somehow avoided a collision, with Khelawon taking the catch one-handed. A real crowd-pleaser!
Chasing 278 in only 45 overs was going to be tough but Harlow gave it a real go. Alan Jones (62) and Ahmed (50) gave the home side a decent start, albeit that the required run rate was creeping up. A typically quick-fire innings from Ahmed Khawaja gave the home side real belief that the chase was on. The departure of ‘AK’ for 39, however, was decisive and a required run rate of 10 an over was to prove too much despite the best efforts of Ubaid (26*), Howarde (18) and Khelawon (16).
So a draw was a fair result and Harlow now prepare to host Buckhurst Hill next Saturday, in the last of the ‘time’ games before the 50/50 games commence.