Harlow258-5

Hadleigh & Thundersley175-7

Essex League Division One

ANOTHER good all-round performance almost bought Harlow their third victory of the season on Saturday, but the eleven points they gained from their draw with Hadleigh and Thundersley was enough to move them up to fourth in the league.

Harlow chose to bat first and were given a fine start to their innings by Pallav Patel and Terry Rist, who added 103 for the first wicket. Patel looked in especially good form and his innings of 68 constituted his best of the season by far.

Rist was next to go for 42, with the bowlers allowing only 25 runs in a 13-over spell. However the imperious Nilesh Odedra, batting at three, soon settled at the crease and with support from the middle order, he got the innings started again.

Harlow scored 136 off the last 20 overs and 42 off the last five overs, as they reached their highest total of the year, 258-5 with Odedra finishing on 78 not out.

When Hadleigh's dangerous-looking Devang Gandhi reached his fifty, his side were already four wickets down for just 79 runs. All four of the wickets fell to Paul Mayhew, who produced his best spell of the year with 4-65.

Unfortunately, his figures were spoiled by having to bowl at Gandhi, who exhibited the level of strokeplay one would expect from an international player.

At the other end, Niraj Odedra bowled tightly and when he took the vital wicket of Gandhi, for an effortless 69 with score at 98-5, Hadleigh's last chance of victory went with him.

Jed Hill took two quick wickets, both slip catches by Duncan Mackenzie, and with Hadleigh on 113-7 with 17 overs left, Harlow were clear favourites.

But they came across staunch resistance from the eighth-wicket partnership of Desai and Revell who were batting defensively, and Harlow had to settle for the draw.Late stand denies Harlow their victoryNilesh Odedra cuts looseANOTHER good all-round performance almost brought Harlow their third victory of the season on Saturday, but the eleven points they gained from their draw with Hadleigh and Thundersley were enough to move them up to fourth in the league.

Harlow chose to bat first and were given a fine start by Pallav Patel and Terry Rist, who added 103 for the first wicket. Patel looked in especially good form and his innings of 68 was his best of the season by far.

Rist was next to go for 42, with the bowlers allowing only 25 runs in a 13-over spell. However, Nilesh Odedra, batting at three, soon settled at the crease and with support from the middle order, he got the innings started again.

Harlow scored 136 off the last 20 overs and 42 off the last five overs, as they reached their highest total of the year, 258-5 with Odedra finishing on 78 not out.

When Hadleigh's Devang Gandhi reached his fifty, his side were already four wickets down for just 79 runs. All four wickets fell to Paul Mayhew, who produced his best spell of the year with 4-65.

Unfortunately, his figures were spoiled by having to bowl at Gandhi, who exhibited the level of strokeplay one would expect from an international player.

At the other end, Niraj Odedra bowled tightly and when he took the vital wicket of Gandhi, for an effortless 69 with the score at 98-5, Hadleigh's last hope of victory went with him.

Jed Hill took two quick wickets, both slip catches by Duncan Mackenzie, and with Hadleigh on 113-7 with 17 overs left, Harlow were clear favourites. But they came across staunch resistance from the eighth-wicket partnership of Desai and Revell, and had to settle for the draw.

July 4, 2002 11:00