Audley vs Newcastle and Hartshill.
Newcastle and Hartshill won by 7 wickets.
Castle won the toss and chose to field at Kent Hills. Joe Thorne soon had Audley in all sorts of trouble when he reduced them to 19/3 in an excellent early burst with the new ball. Freddie Doorbar and Ash Rogers then rebuilt the innings with a stand of 66 for the 4th wicket. Rogers would go on to make his maiden Premier League half-century before he was out for 52. Once Rogers was out, Audley collapsed from 89-4 to 105 all out. The impressive Thorne finished with figures of 5/19 from his 9 overs. He was backed up by Kasun Ekanayaka, who claimed 3/15.
Audley got the perfect start when they reduced Castle to 8/3 in the early stages of their innings. Alex Coates took three early wickets as he threatened to blow the Castle batting line-up away. The experienced Ryan Hassett, 26* and Kasun Ekanayaka, 68*, then guided Castle to victory after they shared an unbroken stand of 98 for the 4th wicket. Coates finished with figures of 3/33 from 6 overs, but he couldn’t inflict any further damage.
Meakins vs Whitmore.
Meakins beat Whitmore by 4 wickets (DLS)
Meakins won the toss and elected to bowl at the Dave Kettle Memorial Ground. Ryan Roberts scored 39 at the top of the order for Whitmore. He was supported by Muhammad Imran, who added 31, but no batter could go on to make a significant contribution. Meakins bowlers didn’t allow them to get away. Ash Shaw took 3/43 from his 9 overs. Jon Clowes took an impressive 3/11 off 5 overs as Whitmore were bowled all out for 178 in the 41st over.
Meakins started poorly; they were reduced to 15/2 before a 15-minute stop for rain. Pete Wilshaw then batted superbly to push Meakins towards victory. He made a splendid 70 off just 51 balls. His innings contained eight 4’s and four 6’s. Jalat Khan added 27 as he added 92 for the 3rd wicket with Wilshaw, as Meakins chased a reduced target of 144 with 4 overs to spare.
Leek vs Hem Heath.
Match Abandoned.
Leek won the toss and elected to bowl at Highfield. Callum Leese’s 61 formed the backbone of Hem Heath’s 164/9 off their 45-over allocation. Leese struck seven 4’s in his innings and added 83 with Dan Richardson (32) for the 4th wicket. Matthew Morris was the pick of the Leek bowlers; he claimed 4/35 in his 9 overs as Hem Heath couldn’t get late impetus into their innings. They collapsed from 152/4 to 164/9 in their quest for late runs.
Unfortunately, there was to be only 5.1 overs of play after the tea break when the rain arrived and forced play to be abandoned for the day with Leek 7/0.
Longton vs Checkley.
Checkley won by 157 runs (DLS)
Longton won the toss and chose to field at Rippon Road. After the early wicket of Tom Carrigan, James Abbotts and James Kettleborough added 136 for the 2nd wicket. Abbotts was dismissed for a fine 66 off 82 balls. He struck seven 4’s and three 6’s in his innings. It was to be Kettleborough’s afternoon, though, the Staffordshire captain struck an imperious 145 as his impressive form continues. He faced 115 balls, hit nineteen 4’s and six 6’s as he obliterated the Longton bowling attack. He added a further 90 with Elliot Boardwell, who made 43 off 32 balls as Checkley posted an imperious 293/7 off their 43-over allocation.
Due to rain during the tea interval, Longton were set 229 from 29 overs to secure victory. No Longton batter was able to make any inroads into the total as they were bundled all out for just 71. The evergreen Richard Cooper snared his first five-wicket haul of the summer as he finished with figures of 5/14 from his 6 overs. EJ Laverty claimed 3/12 as he was too impressive with the ball.
Stone vs Porthill.
Stone won by 29 runs (DLS)
Porthill won the toss and elected to field. George Hawbrook once again got Stone off to a flying start. He made 76 off just 41 balls as he dominated a 108-run opening stand with Sam Graham, who made 44. Hawbrook struck nine 4’s and four 6’s in his powerful knock as he got Stone off to the perfect start. Jack Harvey made 44 off 57 balls, Warrick Fynn 47 off 55 and Joey Sharp 54 off 32 as the Stone middle order continued Hawbrook’s good start, and Porthill couldn’t stem the flow of runs. Matt Coxon took late wickets to end with figures of 4/42, but he was the only bowler to stem the runs for his team. Stone closed on 287/7 from their 45 overs.
Porthill made a good fist of chasing 231 from a rain-reduced 33 overs. Tom Steele made 44 at the top of the order, sharing a stand of 53 with Louis Allison, who made a run-a-ball 51 as Porthill started well. At 151/2, Porthill looked well placed, but a collapse soon followed; they lost three wickets for just 5 to lose all of their momentum. James Cope took 3 three wickets in the middle overs to secure victory for his side as Porthill closed on 201/8 from their 33 overs.
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