1st XI vs. Oundle Town CC 2nd XI

The 1s travelled away to Milton Road, to take on promotion outsiders Oundle Town. On a dry looking pitch, the home skipper won the toss and asked Horton to bat first. Oundle’s medium pacers found joy on a slow wicket, and soon had Horton in trouble at 29-4, with Parmar, Moffat, Hill and Adhikari all back in the shed for single figures. Anvit Arkanath looked to dig in and found support in obdurate skipper Will Smith, the pair put on 51 for the 5th wicket before Smith was adjudged lbw for 16. Another veteran took his place and Will Knibbs put on another 54 with Arkanath, before Anvit was bowled for 43. Bungle marshalled the tail well and reached a vital 48, as Horton posted 169 all out.

After seeing how much turn and bounce was on offer, Smith elected to open with two spinners. Anvit Arkanath (6-2-18-0) and Brayden Hill took the new ball and had Oundle in deep trouble, with few scoring options, as they crawled to 33-3. Brayden finished his allotment on 10-2-17-3, a fine spell from the Kiwi. Steve Finch (6-1-12-2) and Karan Parmar (5-1-10-3) keep the wickets coming as Oundle had no answer to the turning pitch. Smith (3.4-0-9-2) added the killer blows. Horton’s five spinners had bowled out Oundle for 67. Although the spinners claimed the applause, it was young Joe Maw who took credit in the dressing room. The youngsters standing up for thirty overs, straight, in his first game of 1st XI cricket.

2nd XI vs. St Crispins and Harlestone CC 2nd XI

Horton 2nd XI Falter in Must-Win Clash and Fall Short Against St Crispin & Harlestone by 49 Runs

In what was a crucial final home game of the season at Denton Road, Horton 2nd XI were outplayed by a determined St Crispin & Harlestone 2nd XI, losing by 49 runs. With both teams eager for a win, it was St Crispin’s captain who won the toss and opted to bat first on a pitch that promised plenty of runs.

Horton’s opening bowlers, Thanush Devadasan (2-63) and Naitik Kakkar (2-47), struck early, removing both openers to give the home side a promising start. However, things soon began to unravel. Skipper James Hawksworth (4-75) put up a fight with two impressive spells, snaring four wickets, and Amos Awaghade’s (1-59) sharp delivery dismissed the St Crispin captain, who was looking dangerous. Yet, despite these key breakthroughs, Horton’s bowling lacked discipline, handing over 54 extras to the opposition — a costly mistake. St Crispin & Harlestone seized the opportunity, piling on a daunting total of 311/9 in their 45 overs, with Horton left ruing their missed chances.

Faced with a mountainous chase, Horton’s openers, Arnav Jain (9) and Andy Ward (50), had no time to ease into their innings. St Crispin’s bowlers applied immediate pressure, picking up two early wickets to leave Horton struggling at 21/2 after just seven overs. Enter Vignesh Sudhakar (109), who joined Andy Ward at the crease. Together, they managed to stabilise the innings, seeing off the new ball as they tried to regroup.

By the time drinks were called, Horton still needed a staggering 227 runs at a required rate of 10 per over. Ward brought up his half-century shortly after, but a mistimed shot ended his stay at the crease. With Ward gone and the required run rate climbing, the pressure was on. Amos Awaghade (39) joined Vignesh in a desperate bid to keep Horton’s hopes alive. The duo began to counterattack, finding boundaries and briefly turning the game in Horton’s favor as they dispatched the St Crispin bowlers to all parts of the ground.

But just as things seemed to be heating up, Awaghade fell in his quest for quick runs, leaving Vignesh to continue the fight. Vignesh, unfazed, brought up his second century of the season, showcasing some sensational hitting. Yet, when he was finally dismissed, Horton’s hopes of an unlikely victory disappeared with him. The lower order struggled to keep up with the demanding run rate, and Horton ultimately fell short, finishing on 262/9 in their 45 overs.

While Vignesh’s brilliant century was a standout, the 54 extras Horton conceded proved to be the difference, as St Crispin’s total of 311 always seemed just out of reach. It was a tough pill to swallow for Horton, as they let a must-win game slip through their fingers.

3rd XI vs. Kettering Town CC 4th XI

The chill of Autumn had been in the air all week but for the last match of the season the weather stayed warm and sunny. The 3s, assured of promotion, travelled to Kettering, also assured of promotion, for a game to determine who finished 2nd and who finished 3rd.

Sticking to the plan that has served the 3s well – and another toss won - resulted in Kettering being invited to bat. When Kettering were 9 down for 111 it looked like the right decision. Rory bowled a fine opening spell in tandem with Kev (2-26) and both took early wickets, with Rory’s pace resulting in a fine catch in the gully by Rob. The evergreen Paul W took over after Rory’s first spell and was keeping Kettering’s scoring to a minimum when disaster struck and he pulled a calf muscle; handily, the Kettering umpire turned out to be a medical doctor and so diagnosed that Paul’s bowling was over for the day and prescribed a spell in the slips. The skipper finished off Paul’s over with possibly the worst 4 balls he has ever bowled and then it was over to the 3rd team spin twins of Elliot (3-53) and Ian (2-34). Wickets fell regularly, with both bowlers finding turn and bounce. However, unlike many other games this season we could not finish off our opponents and the last Kettering pair managed to stick around and get their total up to 153-9.

Using only 4 bowlers Kettering showed why they were at the top of the table, bowling some tight lines and fielding very sharply. Unfortunately, end-of-season-itis seemed to affect a number of our batters and wickets fell regularly while the skipper remained at the other end. When he fell on 64 in the 30th over the total was 100-9 and the writing was on the wall. However, the senior pair of Wolstenholme (batting with Ryan as a runner) and Taylor showed their guile and determination and were edging Horton to an unlikely win when Kev was finally beaten by a good ball from one of the opening bowlers. 135 all out. A good close game to end a super season.

4th XI vs. Isham CC 2nd XI

The Legends took on their last game of the season against Isham 2s at the glorious Bozeadome. Josh Gould continued the season tradition of producing another great wicket. Losing the toss Horton were put into bat with Paul Das and Jeremy Jesu putting on 41 for the first wicket going with the Brayden Hill approach of looking for runs all the time. However, a middle order collapse ensued until Vamaan came in and hit a blistering 33. Oscar Herbert and Oliver Trimble put on 37 for the last wicket and for the second week in succession Horton finished on 120 all out.

Opening with Vaman and Harry Farbone, Vaman made quick inroads into Isham’s top order but even with Oscar and Alex Monk bowling incredibly well we were not able to remove their opener and skipper Nithya Babu and that was the difference between the two teams.

With that I am delighted with how all the members for the Legends have performed. We have learnt and enjoyed a fantastic summer. Thank you to all that attended Monday and Tuesday night training and a big thank you to Will Smith for arranging and conducting them. Let’s all winter well and get ready for nets in January.

Thank you all Legends.