Eccleshall vs Longton.
Eccleshall won by 3 wickets.
Longton won the toss and elected to bat. After two early wickets, Dane Tinsley made 59, which contained 8 boundaries. He added 89 with Alex Thorley (34) for the 4th wicket as Longton made their way to 129/3. A dramatic collapse of 7/21 then followed as Longton wasted their good start as they were bowled all out for just 150. Matthew Wright, Murvin Abinash, Eranga Dissanagge and Oliver Palmer all claimed two wickets each to give the home side a good chance of victory.
Opener Chris Plant made 32 after the home side were reduced to 13/2. After some contributions from the top order, it was left to Jack Knapper and Abinash, who both made 28, to edge Eccleshall towards their total. Michael Dyer and Matheesha Perera took two wickets apiece, but they couldn’t prevent the home side securing a narrow 3-wicket victory.
Hem Heath vs Checkley.
Checkley won by 6 wickets.
Hem Heath won the toss and elected to bat. EJ Laverty ran riot with the new ball as he claimed excellent figures of 6/14 as he blew away the home side’s top order. Sithembile Langa and Richard Cooper shared the other 4 wickets as Hem Heath were bowled all out for just 78.
Checkley has been reduced to 19/2 before Michael Allen smashed a 29-ball 35, which contained three 4s and three 6s as he guided the visitors to a comfortable victory in just 11 overs.
Meakins vs Stone.
Match Drawn.
Jalat Khan’s fine run-scoring form continued as he made a run-a-ball 82, which contained eight 4s and five 6s. Jack Hammond crashed a 21-ball 37 with four 4s and three 6s as Meakins powered their way to 274 all out. There were contributions all the way down the Meakins order that contributed to the home side running up their huge total. Joey Sharp was the pick of the Stone bowlers, claiming 3/41. Jack Harvey and Warrick Fynn both claimed two wickets each.
Sam Graham (53) and William Alsbury (31) added a patient 91 for the 1st wicket as Stone began their big chase steadily. Graham struck nine boundaries in his innings. The experienced Richard Harvey then added a run-a-ball 31 with boundaries as he dominated a partnership of 46 with Fynn for the 5th wicket. After Harvey was dismissed, Stone went into survival mode, and Fynn 51* from 93 balls with five 4s and a six marshalled the lower order well as they closed on 231/8 from 59 overs to secure the losing draw. Khan claimed 4/33 with his left-arm spin. He was supported by Amaan Tariq and Oliver Tucker, who shared four wickets between them, but they were unable to break Stone’s stubborn resistance.
Moddershall vs Porthill.
Moddershall won by 2 wickets.
Moddershall won the toss and elected to field. Jeet Raval struck a fine 68 after the visitors had been reduced to 16/2. He batted for 108 balls and struck four 4s and one six as he held the innings together. Oliver Shirley added an unbeaten 42 from number 7 as Porthill were bowled all out for 163 from the final ball. Shirley struck three 4s as he made good late runs for his side. Left-arm spinner Danushka Sandaruwan bowled impressively to claim 4/20 from 10 overs to restrict the visitors. Joe Hawkins supported him well, as he also took two wickets.
Porthill started well with the ball and had reduced the home side to 43/3 before Fraser Hawkins made an important 37 as he added 48 with his brother Callum for the 4th wicket. From 91/3 Moddershall then collapsed to 131/8 to leave them needing 34 more for victory with only 2 wickets in hand. Jack Darlington (23) and Sandaruwan (17) saw them home without further incident to secure a narrow victory for the home side. Matt Coxon once again bowled his heart out to finish with 4/31, as he was to finish on the losing side once again. Craig Barker also claimed 3/37, but it wasn’t enough to get the visitors over the line.
Whitmore vs Newcastle & Hartshill.
Newcastle & Hartshill won by 8 wickets.
Whitmore won the toss and elected to bat. Aaqil Mohideen made a patient 45 from 84 balls with 7 boundaries as he got the home side off to a good start with the bat. Caleb Mierkalns then added 30 with five boundaries as Whitmore were bowled all out for 165. Joe Thorne blew away the tail as he finished with 5/34 as his impressive season continues. He was supported by Mo Rameez, who claimed two wickets.
After the early wicket of Harry Ford, Jon Gidman (72), and Rohan Vallabhaneni (51) added 95 for the second wicket as the visitors moved serenely towards their victory target. Vallabhaneni struck eight 4s and one six in his 67-ball innings. Gidman then added an unbroken 67 with Kasun Ekanayaka (29) as the visitors got the job done in just 29.3 overs. Gidman hit eleven 4s and two 6s in his excellent innings to guide his side to a comfortable victory.
