Mohamed lauds players' application as Boyne Hill beat Uxbridge by 33 runs

Boyne Hill captain Ziya Mohamed lauded the hard work and application of his players after they held their nerve to beat Uxbridge by 33 runs on Saturday and get their Thames Valley League Division 1 campaign off to a positive start.

After last week's false start with every game in all the divisions being cancelled without a ball being bowled, Mohamed's side finally got their season underway on their own wicket and picked up a close, but morale-boosting victory.

Having been put into bat by their visitors, they managed 211-6 from their 50 overs, with James Hammerton (86) and overseas player Bilawal Bhatti (62) both making superb contributions to a score that looked more than defendable. Defend it they did, but only by 33 runs as Uxbridge gave chase well before running out of steam.

Mohamed himself had a key say in the outcome, taking 3-24 as Uxbridge were bowled out for 178 runs in the 44th over. Their chase was largely stifled by Mohamed, Humza Ishaq (2-37), and Muteeb Syed (1-21).

Hill - who have moved top after two weekends - next face Cookham Dean, again at home on Saturday (May 20).

“It was a really good team effort against Uxbridge,” said Mohamed this week. “We got off to a good start thanks to Hammers (James Hammerton) and then our overseas came to the crease and thrashed them. That helped us get to a really good score.

“We were quite happy with 170 but we ended up with 211. In the second innings, we bowled well and fielded really well. I got three wickets and the youngsters, Humza and Muteeb worked hard. Overall, I am really happy.

Mohamed added: “Last year we didn’t have a really good start, we lost our first four games but now that we have won the first one, we want to keep pushing. Winning more will boost our confidence.

“We are at home to Cookham Dean next. They lost really badly against Stoke Green recently, they were bowled out for 70-something. Hopefully we can do something similar.

“I got 35 wickets last year so it would be nice to better that this year. I am batting slightly lower down the order because we’ve got really good batsmen this year. I don’t mind that; I don’t mind concentrating on my bowling more.”