Brondesbury captain James Overy hailed an “unbelievable” victory in the league on Saturday before falling short in the cup semi-final to North Middlesex on Bank Holiday Monday.

Overy’s side picked up their first Premier Division victory of 2020 with a two-run win over Shepherd’s Bush after being put into bat first.

They put together a score of 145-9 with Angus Beagles (37) leading the way with support from Fahim Baharami (17) late on.

Brondesbury then bowled their opponents out for 143 with Beagles and Baharami picking up three wickets each.

“Saturday was unbelievable really, we sort of fought really hard to get up to 145, which was a competitive score but not by any stretch of the imagination a huge number of runs,” Overy said.

“It gave us a chance. Angus Beagles was instrumental along with Fahim in getting us up to that score, as they put on 50 down the order which gave us something to bowl at.

“With the ball we started off pretty nicely, kept it tight, but they always had wickets in hand so we knew it would be a tough ask and that we had to bowl them out.

“At one stage I think they needed 20 to win with five wickets in hand, but an outstanding bowling performance from Gus and Fahim, who got three wickets each, wrapped it up with just two runs to spare.

“Unbelievable scenes at the end and great for us to get over the line in a close game – to finally get it done is a monkey off our backs.”

It was a 76-run defeat in the cup semi-final to North Middlesex, though, after Brondesbury bowled their opponents out for 175 but were then dismissed for just 99 in reply.

“Anyone looking at the match on paper would suggest North Middlesex was massive favourites and they’ve got three professional cricketers in their team,” said Overy.

“I think we can be really proud of the fact we got to the semi-final and that we put them under a lot of pressure.

“To bowl them out for 175 is an outstanding effort with the line-up they’ve got. We ended up short with the bat, but we always knew things would have to go our way. Good luck to them in the final, they were worthy winners on the day.”

Brondesbury travel to local rivals Crouch End in the Middlesex League on Saturday, looking to make it two wins in a row.