The Hills Vs North Down (April 17th, 2010)
At a sun-drenched Vineyard, the Hills played host to North Down, one of the leading teams from the Northern Cricket Union. North Down won the toss and elected to field, and it looked to have been a very wise decision when Taimur Khan bowled Jeremy Bray when the score was only 18. However Albert Van der Merwe and Mike Baumgart dug in, and the next wicket, that of Baumgart, did not fall until the Hills were 111. Nazeer Shaukat was out for 2, and then the second big partnership of the Hills innings between Van der Merwe and Max Sorenson put on 53 runs for the third wicket. It appeared at this juncture that the Hills would compile a very big score, but four wickets fell for 16 runs, and the Hills finished on a score of 200. The main contributors in a somewhat patchy batting performance overall were Van der Merwe (86) and Sorenson (53*).
The North Down innings did not get off to the most auspicious of starts, and they had lost both of their opening batsmen by the time the score had reached 19. The very talented Ryan Haire hit a very attacking 63, but wickets were lost at the other end on a regular basis, with only four of the North Down players getting into double figures. Van der Merwe who had an outstanding game, took 4 for 20, Aijaz Faroqui took 2 for 3, and there were 2 very good run-outs. North Down were eventually all out in the 32nd over for 148. This was a very competent performance in the field by the Hills, and the auguries are very positive for the forthcoming competitive season which begins on Saturday next with a game against Malahide.
