Little Stoke 1st XI beat Bagnall Norton 2nd XI by 69 runs.
Little Stoke won the toss and chose to bat first at Potteries Fuels Park. After the early wicket of Nikita Sayar. Tim Twigg and Rob Spruce added 151 for the 2nd wicket. Spruce was dismissed first for an excellent 95 made off 103 balls. He struck thirteen 4’s and one 6 and put his team in a strong position. Twigg made 57, which contained six boundaries before he was removed. Mohammad Saleem added a breezy 34* to take the Little Stoke total to 220/5 from their 40-over allocation.
Spencer Ashby made 33 at the top of the order for Bagnall Norton. He received support from Brandon Missole, who made 27, but when they were dismissed, Bagnall Norton collapsed from 74/2 to 101 all out as the Little Stoke bowlers took control of the game. Nikita Sayer claimed 3/24 from 7 overs and Todd Talbot took 4/21 to wrap up the Bagnall Norton innings and secure a comfortable victory.
Burslem 1st XI beat Woore 1st XI by 101 runs.
Burslem won the toss and elected to bat at Festival Heights. The match was reduced to 30 overs a side because of rain. After a strong start from the Burslem top order, Sifit Tajik 28, Syed Haider Bukhari 29 and Michael Brown 21. Usman Yaqub made a run-a-ball 59 as he accelerated the Burslem innings in the middle overs. MD Arifur Mollah then added a late 29 as BUrslem posted 202/6 from their 30 overs.
Burslem’s bowlers were then efficient after the change of innings as they bowled Woore all out for 101. No Woore batter could make a start as they lost wickets constantly throughout the innings. Haider Bukhari claimed 3/7 from 5 overs and Tajik 3/7 from 2 overs as they secured a comfortable victory.
Cheadle 2nd XI beat Checkley 2nd XI by 7 runs.
Checkley won the toss and elected to field in a match reduced to 22 overs a side. Scott Harvey made 57 from 49 balls as he got the innings off to a positive start. He struck four 4’s and three 6’s. Noah Shaw added a late 22* from 15 balls as Cheadle finished on 135/6 from their 22 overs.
Checkley started poorly when they were reduced to 35/3 in the 7th over. But a partnership of 49 between Jamie Richardson and Matthew Woodford dragged them back into the game. Richardson made 25 and Woodford 28 as they recovered from their bad start, but no other batter could make a significant contribution, and with Oliver Stokes claiming 3/27 from 4 overs, as Checkley fell just short when they closed on 128/7.
Church Eaton 1st XI beat Leycett 2nd XI by 9 wickets.
Church Eaton won the toss and elected to bowl first. Jonathon Arnold took 4/13 from his 8 overs after Adriel Felsinger and Finley Waterhouse had taken Leycett to 54/1. Felsinger made 25 from 51 balls as the Church Eaton bowlers were accurate and kept the scoring rate down. It was Arnold who made the breakthrough, though, when he trapped Felsinger LBW, which sparked a Leycett collapse. Jordan Talbot also contributed with 3/7 from 2.1 overs as Leycett were bowled all out for 102, meaning they’d lost their last 9 wickets for only 48.
Church Eaton required only 11 overs to chase their target Arnold completed a fine day when he made 45 off 33 balls to get his side off to a fast start. He struck five 4’s and two 6’s before he was dismissed with only 3 required for victory. Jordan Talbot was an unbeaten 26* to see Church Eaton over the line for a comfortable victory.
Leek 2nd XI beat Eccleshall 2nd XI by 77 runs.
Eccleshall won the toss and elected to field first. Tom Grindey, 29 and Rory Corden, 42, got Leek off to a good start with the bat. Joshua Woodcock then added a splendid 75 off just 69 balls as he accelerated through the middle overs. His innings contained seven 4’s and one 6 as he pushed the Leek score north of 200. He was finally dismissed in the final over as Leek closed on 218/6 from their 40 overs.
Rhys Owens made 38 at the top of the order for Eccleshall, but he received little support as the Leek bowlers began to stifle the scoring rate. They picked up wickets at regular intervals, and Eccleshall were never really in the chase. Matt Bowcock claimed 3/25 from his 8 overs, and Brad Grindey 2/9 as Leek ran out comfortable victors when Eccleshall were bowled out for 141 with 7 overs remaining.
Endon 2nd XI beat Blythe 1st XI by 5 wickets (DLS).
Blythe won the toss and elected to bat first. Matt Rogerson made 32 at the top of the order for Blythe, but he didn’t receive enough support, and the Endon bowlers took wickets regularly to restrict Blythe to 167 all out. Dan Bailey was the pick of the Endon bowlers; he took 3/22 from 5.4 overs. Dan Shelley took 3/28 to offer his support.
Endon’s reply started badly when they lost Jordan Weaver to the first ball of the chase, and it looked like Blythe were on their way to a comfortable victory, but Dan Bailey’s late assault turned the tide for his team. He smashed a remarkable 68* from just 37, which included nine 4’s and three 6’s as he took his side to the brink of chasing their rain-reduced target of 150. Peter Slinn then got them over the line with an unbeaten 20* to take them into the next round.
Porthill 2nd XI beat Newcastle and Hartshill 2nd XI by 3 wickets.
Porthill won the toss and elected to field at The Potteries Oval. Castle were in early trouble as the Porthill bowlers ran riot. They were reduced to 24/5, and then 34/6 as no batter could get going. Jacob Maddock then made a composed 50 to guide his side out of the massive hole they found themselves in after Porthill’s early bowling blitz. Zak Twist made 19 before Castle were bowled out for 125. Tom Mason led the Porthill bowlers with 3/27 from his 8 overs; he was supported by Max Blurton, Harry Stubbs and Esa Mohamed, who all took 2 wickets each.
The Castle bowlers then took their revenge. They reduced Porthill to 26/3, knowing early wickets would be key if they were to win the game. Porthill then recovered but soon slipped to 56/5 as it became anybody’s game, but a fine 44 from Tom Mason rounded off his excellent afternoon as Porthill got over the line to secure a narrow victory.
Wedgwood 1st XI beat Audley 2nd XI by 5 wickets.
Audley won the toss and elected to bat. Richard Beckett made 46 as the Wedgwood bowlers kept a firm grip on the Audley batters. Ade Lello took 3/28 and Ben Dixon 3/27 as they restricted Audley to 172/8 from their 38 overs.
Dixon then made 38 off 36 balls as he started the chase positively. He was supported by Kian Pentecost, who added 31 before Ramzan Mohammed added 22* to see his side to a comfortable victory with 6 overs remaining.
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