HARPENDEN held on for a draw in a thriller finale against North Mymms at Home Farm on Saturday.
Defending 228, Mymms came agonisingly close to winning the game but Harpenden’s bowling attack stuck to the task, not giving the hosts easy shots, as the teams shared the spoils.
Having won the toss and elected to bowl, Harpenden made a solid start thanks to Gregg Cooper and Nick Lamb. The pair put on 56 runs for the first wicket; Cooper caught and bowled by Hamza Quyyam for 33.
Quyyam struck again without the score moving, trapping Jake Pankhurst LBW, before Prithviraj Sarvaiya caught Nick Lamb (20) off his own bowling to reduce Harpenden to 60-3.
Ben Frazer departed for six with the score on 78, bringing Mike Howard to the crease to join Dan Blacktopp as they navigated Harpenden away from the danger and past the 100 mark.
Blacktopp (30) was the next to go, caught by Quyyam, and Howard, who he had put on a 37-run partnership with, was the sixth wicket to fall as Harpenden slumped to 133-6.
Will Jones added 16 off 24 balls to up the run rate but it was James Latham’s run-a-ball 72 that saw the visitors post a competitive score. Partnering Jones, Simon White (13) and Richard Brabner (1), White helped Harpenden compile a score of 228-8 in 56 overs.
For Mymms, Quyyam was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Sarvaiya took three scalps.
After the interval, Mymms set about their task superbly with Quyyam and James Johnston scoring 80 runs before the first wicket. Off spinner Ben Frazer made the breakthrough dismissing Johnston for 41.
Quyyam and number three Stephen Snell pushed to score to 139 prior to a flurry of wickets. Lamb removed Snell (14) before Frazer took his second and third wickets, removing Quyyam (82) and Nesan Jeyaratnam (1).
Skipper Andy Lewis and Rhys Carter frustrated Harpenden by moving the score towards 200. By the time Mymms reached the double century Lewis (14) and Caleb Stewart (6) were back in the club house.
Rhys Wynne (10no) took Mymms to within two runs of victory but the hosts ran out of overs and had to settle for a draw.
Frazer (4-69) was the highlight of Harpenden’s bowling attack while Lamb snared a brace and Will Jones chipped in with a single wicket.
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