The Harman Drive club had a good couple of days in two different competitions with Nick Jones scoring an unbeaten hundred in the knock-out cup

James Overy was pleased with Brondesbury’s two results last weekend and in particular the form of batsmen Nick Jones.

The Middlesex County League Premier Division club secured a winning draw at home to Highgate on Saturday before defeating Division Two outfit Hornsey by eight wickets a day later in the third round of the knock-out cup.

Jones hit a classy 102 not out to see Brondesbury into the quarter-finals after a run-a-ball 39 the day before.

Overy said: “Nick scored a really good hundred and Anshy (Anshuman Rath) hit an unbeaten 54, so it was great to see them both get runs.

“Nick was batting at eight for us on Saturday, but showed he can bat much higher in the win over Hornsey and I was really happy for him.

“We gave him the chance to play up the order and he has now taken it and it is great for me as a captain to have a problem like that.”

Before Jones and Rath starred with the bat on Sunday, they impressed with the ball with the former taking 2-38 and the latter recording the best figures of the match with 3-38.

It enabled visiting Hornsey to be restricted to 201-8 from their 45 overs and it wasn’t enough as Brondesbury got home with 38 balls to spare.

“Sunday was an excellent win and we want to take the knock-out cup seriously this year, so it was good to get through to the quarter-finals,” said Overy.

“It was similar to Saturday because we did everything we set out to do, so I was really pleased with how we played in both of the games.”

Brondesbury couldn’t claim a victory against Highgate, but certainly enjoyed the better of the contest.

The visitors won the toss at Harman Drive on Saturday and fielded first, but the hosts soon passed fifty without loss.

When Overy went for 38, Brondesbury were 60-1, but Steven Martin (40) and Rath (31) continued to score freely while down the order Jordan Bethel (31), Joe Moore (30) and Jones (39) chipped in with vital scores.

It enabled the hosts to reach 263 all out in the 62nd over with Uzair Amjaid taking 5-76 off 18 overs for Highgate.

Although the visitors made a decent start to their chase, Sam Smith (4-62) and Anthony Wilkinson (3-59) gave Brondesbury the upper-hand.

Highgate captain Muz Ali hit 55 at number three, but very few of the away sides other batsmen could get going, although they finished on 197-8 in the end.

It gave Brondesbury five points from the game. Overy added: “I was happy with the result in the end because I think we did all we could to win.

“It was a tough pitch to get wickets on and I was pleased with the way we performed both in the field and with the bat.

“Against a rival, it was important we didn’t let them get too many points, so as much as I would have loved for us to get the last two wickets, I was happy.”