Former West Indies Test player proves too good for Tynemouth

Home skipper Sean Tindale won the toss and asked Tynemouth to bat first.

Ben Debnam opened with Matt Kimmitt for the visitors, but both were dismissed early, leaving their team at 8-2.

Tshepo Ntuli and Joe Snowdon looked to repair the damage with a partnership of 20 before Ntuli hit one to Jonathan Wightman off the bowling of Tindale. Worse was to come for Tynemouth with Stuart Poynter adjudged lbw second ball for a duck from a delivery that seemed to hit bat first.

At 28-4 Tynemouth were in big trouble when 15-year-old Robbie Bowman joined 18-year-old Snowdon at the crease. The two youngsters both batted well. Snowdon watchful, but always looking to score when the opportunity arose, and running well between the wickets. Bowman played a lovely innings full of power and timing. A player of real promise. A partnership of 68 lifted the spirits of the Tynemouth players and spectators before Snowdon went for 29 and Bowman shortly after for 42.

Having recovered to 96-4 at one point, the middle order and tail rather collapsed for a final score of just 132. Ed Foreman dug in for a determined 17 not out.

Skipper Martin Pollard decided to open the bowling with the pace of Andrew Jones and the spin and guile of Ntuli, but neither could get the early breakthroughs necessary and former West Indies Test player Moseley quickly took the match away from the visitors with a quite brilliant exhibition of positive batting.

Ntuli did dismiss Birtwistle but that just brought the impressive Nikhil Gorantla to the crease. Gorantla finished on 25 not out and Moseley was also undefeated on 87 off just 76 balls as the pair reached the target in 20.2 overs.

Next Saturday the team return to Preston Avenue after three away games on the spin and will hope to register a win against Ashington.

Meanwhile the 2s hosted South North 2s in the reverse fixture. The visitors batted first and compiled 213-9 from their 45 overs. For Tynemouth, James Carr (3-37) and Shamsul Oraikhil (3-38) were the pick of the bowlers, backed up by Richard Hay (1-17) and Joel Hull-Denholm (1-30).

In reply, Tynemouth came up short with 197-9, with skipper Chris Fairley (67) and Sam Robson (42) keeping the contest alive until a flurry of late wickets swung the game in the direction of South North.

Tynemouth Saturday 3s produced an excellent display of bowling and fielding to dismiss visitors Annfield Plain 2s for 124.

Despite impressive opening spells by stand-in skipper Ed Snelders and Lewis Hurst, the visitors had reached 61 before a double bowling change made a massive difference. Dom Askins (2-18) and the returning Evan Hull-Denholm (2-25), who took a wicket with his first competitive ball for almost two years, brought Tynemouth back into the contest. Four run-outs, as well as an eye-catching spell from Asik Miah (2-8), saw Annfield Plain dismissed in the last over.

Sadly, the batting performance was borderline inadequate. Hull-Denholm (27) did his bit, but Tynemouth subsided to 74 all out. It leaves TCC rooted to the bottom of the table with five games remaining.