HARPENDEN’S batting depth came to the rescue on Saturday as Jake Pankhurst and Will Jones hit half centuries in a 63-run win.
Coming in at numbers six and seven respectively, Pankhurst (57) and Jones (73) guided Harpenden to a competitive 213-run total, which was too much for WGC to surpass.
Nick Lamb’s side have now won two on the bounce and three out of four fixtures, leaving them in third place in the league, 25 points off top-placed Henley.
Facing a menacing wicket due to rain on Thursday and Friday, WGC inserted Harpenden into bat and it seemed to pay dividends as James Hewitt (1-40) and Gavin Baker (4-37) took early wickets.
Dan Blacktopp (0) was the first to walk after being rapped on the pads by Hewitt. His captain, Lamb (7), suffered the same fate, this time off Baker, to leave Harpenden struggling to find a footing in the match.
Gregg Cooper (15), Ben Frazer (14) and Mike Howard (18) all started well, finding the boundary in their short spells, but were unable to push on and post big totals.
That task was left to Pankhurst and Jones. The pair batted with patience and poise to push to score over 200 and leave WGC with a mountain to climb.
WGC found runs hard to come by with Jones and Frazer bowling tight lines at a good length. Louis Champion (6) was the first to go, caught behind by Blacktopp off Jones’ bowling.
Frazer (4-26) and Lamb (3-34) found their wicket-taking form to tear through the middle order. Only opener Hewitt (52) put up any resistance, and after he was caught and bowled by Frazer the innings fell apart.
Simon White (2-19) chipped in with two wickets, and took the wicket everyone wanted: England international and star of the Indian Premier League’s Rajistan Royals Owais Shah (12) as WGC were skittled for 150 runs.
Harpenden were back in action on Sunday against Broxbourne in the first round of the County Cup.
Bowling first, Harpenden restricted Broxbourne to 126 in 45.5 overs. In reply, they knocked off the score in 22.5 overs with four wickets to spare. The win sets up a second round tie against Hertford, which will be played on June 23.
Next up for Harpenden is a visit to The Common from North Mymms on Saturday. 11am start.
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