Porthill beat Eccleshall by 97 runs.
Porthill batted first and amassed 224/8 from their 45 overs. This was thanks to an unbeaten 97 from Matt Coxon, who struck thirteen 4s and one 6 in his innings that was compiled of 99 balls. Coxon never really received any notable support during his time at the crease as wickets fell regularly around him. Eccleshall will be disappointed that they conceded 31 extras, 25 of which were wides. Matthew Wright and Oliver Palmer both claimed 2 wickets each.
Eccleshall’s chase never got going thanks to some accurate bowling from Coxon, Ben Holt, and Craig Barker, who quickly had them reduced to 36/5 in the 13th over.
There was some resistance from keeper Chris Plant, who added 26 and Myles Coughlan, who added 33 at number 7, but Porthill ran out comfortable winners in the end. Holt claimed 4/34 from 9 overs, whilst Barker finished with 4/27 from 8.1 overs.
Checkley beat Meakins by 228 runs at Ivy House Road as runs flowed and records tumbled.
Having won the toss and elected to bat, Checkley lost opener Carrigan and captain Kettleborough with 72 on the board. What followed can only be described as pure carnage. Stand-in professional Bryce Parsons smashed an incredible 220 off only 99 balls. His innings contained eighteen 4s and an eye-watering twenty 6s as the Meakins bowlers wilted in the afternoon sun. James Abbotts made 98 off 120 balls as he added 290 with Parsons for the 3rd wicket; I believe this to be a Premier League record. Parsons’ score of 220 and Checkley’s final total of 414/8 are also records to the best of my knowledge. Simon Mugava finished with 3/77 off 8 overs.
Meakins unsurprisingly didn’t make a dent in the astronomical Checkley total; they were dismissed for 186 with Sam Moores carrying his bat with an unbeaten 91, which contained eleven 4s and two 6s. He added 65 for the 7th wicket with captain Jack Hammond, who made 30. Nils Priestley finished with figures of 4/18 as Checkley wrapped up a comfortable victory.
Moddershall defeated Leek by 3 wickets at Highfield in a difficult game for batters.
Leek won the toss and elected to bat. With Morris, Mahmood, Carr and Mellor all back inside the pavilion inside 11 overs and only 47 runs on the board, they had their work cut out to reach a competitive total. But Leek’s middle order was stifled by Sam Kelsall and Danushka Sandaruwan, who claimed 2/18 and 3/12 respectively from their 9 overs. Only some late hitting from Number 10 Joshua Hudson, who made 31, took Leek to 119 all out, giving them something to bowl at.
Moddershall’s reply began poorly when they were reduced to 15/2 in the 5th over, Hudson claiming the wickets of Kelsall and Ahmed. This was followed by a partnership of 57 between the Hawkins brothers, Callum added 24 before he became the first of Anis Raza’s 3 wickets. Joe Hawkins had made 48 to push Moddershall to within 7 of victory before he was out LBW to Raza. Moddershall lost one further wicket in getting over the line. Raza finished with figures of 3/28 as he almost bowled Leek to another unlikely victory.
Newcastle and Hartshill beat Longton by 3 wickets at Rippon Road.
Longton won the toss and chose to bat. They were indebted to half centuries from Andrew Coxon 54 and Tom Hope 65* in their final total of 157/6; no other batter seemed to get going against a disciplined bowling effort from Castle. Kasun Ekanayaka was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/25 off 8 overs.
Brodie Mack claimed 2 early wickets as Longton reduced Castle to 47/2 after 10 overs, and it soon became 52/5 as Matheesha Perera entered the attack. It was to be the experienced duo of Andy Whitehead and Harry Bailey who took Castle to the brink of victory with a 50-run stand for the 7th wicket. Whitehead made 35 off 81 balls, and Bailey made an unbeaten 37 off 39 balls as Castle took the points.
Hem Heath defeated Whitmore by 2 wickets at the Gemini ground.
Whitmore were asked to bat first and had made a strong start with Caleb Mierkalns and Danyal Hussain adding 71 for the first wicket before Hussain was dismissed for 28. Mierkalns followed 2 overs later for 29, and the Whitmore innings lost all momentum. They could only make 153 before being bowled all out. Greg Prime claimed 4/21 with his left-arm spin; he was well supported by Callum Leese, who added two further wickets.
Liam Banks fronted the Hem Heath chase after they were reduced to 27/3 by some accurate bowling from Dilesh Gunarathne. He made 56 before he was stumped off the bowling of Bilal Hussain; his innings contained seven 4s and two 6s, and he shared a partnership of 64 with Dan Richardson for the 4th wicket. Richardson continued on after Banks’ dismissal, making 54 from 91 balls, containing ten 4s and taking Hem Heath to within 2 runs of victory before he was dismissed. Hem Heath got over the line in the next over to take the points. Bilal Hussain claimed 3/29 as he threatened to bowl his side to victory.
