Local club avoid the drop, as Southgate suffer relegation after five-wicket loss at Hampstead

North Middlesex defeated local rivals Brondesbury by one wicket on Saturday during a thrilling last match of the 2017 Middlesex League Premier Division season, but both clubs were happy in the end.

Although visiting Brondesbury lost, they managed to stay up and finished eighth and one point ahead of relegated Southgate.

The away side batted first at North Middlesex and made 231-8 from their 50 overs largely thanks to the contributions of two players in particular.

Jordan Bethel played impressively before falling five short of a century, while Sam Smith hit 76.

North Middlesex’s Joel Hughes recorded excellent figures of 2-7 from his 10 overs and bowled an outstanding eight maidens.

Ed Bird backed him up with 2-39, while Ravi Patel claimed 1-40, as the hosts were able to peg back the visitors in the end.

Joe Cracknell got North Middlesex off to a strong start in reply by smashing a quick-fire 36, but their chase was stalling when Will Vanderspar (22) was lbw to leave them 137-5.

Number five James Parslow hit 36 to keep them up with the run-rate with Adam Price going well.

A late collapse saw Patel, Hughes and Bird dismissed cheaply and North Middlesex needed 22 runs with only one wicket in hand.

Price held his nerve, though, to finish unbeaten with 66 and Hugh Teesdale proving a reliable partner as he ended seven not out in the hard fought win.

Elsewhere, Hampstead finished with a five wicket win at home to Southgate, which relegated their rivals as a result.

The away side batted first and were dismissed for 206 with one ball left despite Tom Edrich hitting 78 and Jamie Jouning adding 44.

Liam Hughes (3-48) and Andrew Hazeldine (3-49) did most of the damage with Chris Beaumont-Dark claiming 2-29.

And Hampstead made light work of the chase, as a 124-run partnership for the second wicket put them on course for victory.

Opener George Adair played patiently to score 68 and Sam Evison also batted watchfully as he reached 57.

Both fell before the end, but Matthew Watson (26*) and captain Hughes (31*) got their team over the line with five overs left.

South Hampstead finished a difficult 2017 campaign with a 29 run loss at Middlesex Tamil Sports & Social Club.

The home side made 248-7 from their 45 overs, as three of their batsmen passed fifty despite the best efforts of Karthik Jagannathan (2-45) and Varun Agnish (2-50).

In reply, South Hampstead had plenty of people make starts with top three Mohamad Choudhry (27), Naveed Dawlatzai (20) and Nish Patel (31) getting in.

All three failed to kick on however, but things looked good when Rizwan Mohammed and Avnish Patel were together.

The former fell two short of his half century after smashing three fours and three sixes in his 33-ball innings.

And despite Avnish Patel hitting 46 not out, he couldn’t find any support down the order and South Hampstead ended on 219-7 from their 45 overs to lose their last game of the season.