Newcastle & Hartshill vs Checkley.
Newcastle & Hartshill won by 7 wickets.
Pink balls and coloured kits return this week as I visit The Potteries Oval to watch some win/lose cricket.
Castle have dropped to 8th in the standings on the back of three successive defeats, which rounded out the traditional format. They are only 27 points behind Audley in 4th position, and some decent results in their final five fixtures could propel them higher in the standings. They won 3 and lost 3 of their pink-ball games at the start of the season, as they’ve struggled for consistency all summer. Rohan Vallabhaneni leads the way with the bat for them with 361 runs at 21.24. Mo Rameez has taken 33 scalps with his dangerous leg-spin at 16.24.
Checkley sit in 2nd, but they’re not in the best of form, having won only one of their last five games, surrendering the lead in the standings to Moddershall. They now have the difficult task of clawing back a 16-point deficit if they want to be champions. James Kettleborough has plundered 850 runs at 56.67 to be the leading run scorer in Premier A. EJ Laverty is having an impressive season with the ball; he’s taken 38 wickets at 14.26 with the new ball this summer. Checkley won 4 and lost 2 of their opening fixtures in the win/lose format, and I believe it is their stronger suit.
Newcastle & Hartshill won the toss and elected to bowl in changeable conditions. The overnight rain had left the outfield damp, and there should be assistance for the seam bowlers early on.
James Abbotts chipped a simple return catch back to Joe Thorne in the 3rd over, leaving Checkley 1/1. It had been a good start from the home side’s bowlers, and they’d been on the money from ball one. Thorne induced an edge from James Kettleborough later in the over that beat Harry Bailey at gully and ran away for a streaky boundary as he continued to cause problems with the new ball.
Tom Carrigan and Kettleborough rotated the strike well against the disciplined Thorne and Bailey, moving Checkley quietly to 21/1 after 8 overs. Kettleborough drove a rare loose ball from Thorne handsomely through extra cover for his second boundary in the 9th over. A sweetly timed on drive from Carrigan raced past mid-on for his first boundary of the afternoon in the 11th over, advancing the score to 37/1. Kettleborough stood tall and drove a full ball from Guy Bridgett down the ground for his 3rd boundary in the 13th over. He drove another full ball – this time from Bailey – over mid-off for a maximum in the next over before he tamely chipped to Jon Gidman at mid-off in the next over off the bowling of Bridgett to depart for 34 in the 15th over. It was a loose stroke from Kettleborough, and he was visibly disappointed as he walked off the field. It was a big wicket for Castle as he had just started to look dangerous.
Checkley picked up 5 bonus runs later in the over when Bridgett strayed down the leg side and beat keeper Ryan Hassett. Bailey bowled Josh Hewitt in the next over when he tried to work a full ball off the back foot through the off side. The ball spun, went under his bat and hit leg stump, leaving Checkley 63/3. Castle had picked up two quick wickets and wrestled back the momentum after the visitors’ good start.
A superbly timed extra cover drive by Nils Priestley raced to the boundary in the 18th over. Priestley found the boundary on two occasions in the 21st over, advancing Checkley’s score to 91/3. The first was a powerful on drive that beat mid-on, and the second was a lofted drive over Mo Rameez’s head when he gave the ball some air two balls later. A square drive brought Priestley his 4th boundary in the 23rd over as Checkley reached drinks at 97/3 with Carrigan unbeaten on 24 and Priestley on 22. Both sides will be happy with their positions at the interval. Castle had removed the dangerous Kettleborough and their spinners were beginning to get into the game. Checkley, on the other hand, negotiated the tricky period against the new ball and built steadily throughout their innings. They had got a good platform to now go and get a big score.
Carrigan drove airily through the covers off the back foot for his 3rd boundary in the 25th over. A Rameez quicker ball then beat Hassett and ran away for 5 wides before he trapped Carrigan and Allen LBW with successive deliveries to end the over with the score on 112/5. Allen did not look impressed with the decision and took an age to leave the field. Mohammed Ishtiaq took a fine one-handed diving catch low down to his right-hand side to dismiss Jack Farrington off the bowling of Rameez to end the 27th over with Checkley struggling on 114/6.
Priestley then drove Kasun Ekayanaka straight to Rohan Vallabhaneni, who took a comfortable catch at cover as Checkley lost their 7th wicket in the next over. Priestley departed for 27, and Castle had been excellent since the drinks break; they’d now taken 4/18 in 6 overs since play resumed. Ekayanaka picked up his second wicket in the 30th over as Checkley continued to collapse. He bowled EJ Laverty when he tried to force a ball through the off side, leaving Checkley in deep trouble at 115/8.
Niall Lovatt advanced down the wicket and smashed a full toss from Rameez over mid-off for a welcome boundary in the next over. Another boundary followed when he tried to leave the next ball. As he was removing his bat, it struck the face and flew past second slip and raced away for a fortunate boundary. Ekanayaka trapped Ben Haslegrave LBW in the next over when he went back to a full delivery that struck him plumb in front, leaving the visitors reeling at 123/9. A powerful cut from Lovatt brought him another boundary in the 33rd over when Rameez dropped short; he scored his 4th boundary in the 35th over when he lifted a full delivery from Rameez over the legside, moving the score to 132/9. A 5th boundary followed for Lovatt when he launched a full ball from Ekanayaka over mid-off for a one-bounce four in the next over.
Rameez ended the Checkley innings on 139 in the 37th over when he bowled Richard Cooper with a big spinning leg break. Lovatt was unbeaten on 24, which was unfortunate for him as he was looking good. Rameez finished with excellent figures of 4/45 from 8.4 overs as he was once again excellent with his leg spin. Ekanayaka backed him up superbly with 3/16 from 9 overs, giving away very little from the other end. Checkley will be disappointed that they collapsed from 97/3 to 139 all out in just 14 overs after the drinks break. They were in a good position, but some wonderful bowling by the home side turned the game in their favour when play resumed. The visitors will need to hit the ground running after the tea break if they are to get themselves back into this match. Castle will be extremely happy with how the first half of this match has gone, and they gave themselves a great chance of victory.
Vallabhaneni started positively, lifting the 3rd ball of the innings over Laverty’s head for a one-bounce four. Cooper made an early breakthrough for Checkley, bowling Hassett in the 4th, leaving Castle 14/1. Hassett went for a big drive through the off side and got an inside edge, sending the ball crashing into off stump. Vallabhaneni found the boundary twice in the next over. He squeezed a full ball from Laverty to third man before smashing the final ball of the over straight down the ground in dismissive fashion to advance the score to 22/1.
Ishtiaq drove airily through extra cover for his first boundary to begin the 7th over. A superbly timed drive through the covers brought him another boundary from the next delivery, advancing the score to 34/1. Vallabhaneni nearly chopped a ball from Cooper onto his stumps when he attempted an expansive stroke in the next over. He whipped a full ball through mid-wicket and away to the boundary when Cooper strayed onto his pads later in the over. It did go in the air, but it was nowhere near the fielder.
Ishtiaq nicked Laverty just short of Kettleborough at slip in the 9th over as Checkley continued to search for early wickets. Cooper claimed his second wicket in the next over when Ishtiaq chipped a full ball to mid-on where Lovatt took a simple catch, leaving Castle 42/2. Vallabhaneni guided a ball from Cooper to the third man boundary to begin the 12th over, a single to long off then brought up the 50 for the home side. Gidman cut a short ball from Priestley past short third man for a boundary in the next over before Vallabhaneni cut Cooper to the point boundary to begin the 14th over with a fine stroke, moving him to 36*.
Another fine cut stroke brought him another boundary later in the over before he nearly lost his off stump when Cooper got the final ball of the over to nip back at him and he offered no stroke. A genuine outside edge from Vallabhaneni raced to the third man boundary before a fine drive down the ground took him to his half-century in the 16th over. It had taken him only 38 balls to get there, and he’d struck nine fours so far in his stylish knock.
A head-high full toss from Lovatt beat Abbotts behind the stumps and ran away to the boundary in the next over, moving the score to 86/2. Vallabhaneni’s good innings of 54 was ended in the 18th over when he smashed a delivery from Haslegrave straight to Carrigan at mid-off, where he took an easy catch, leaving Castle 86/3. Abbotts missed a tough legside stumping later in the over when Ekayanaka attempted to work a delivery through the legside. He overbalanced and dragged his back leg out of his ground, but Abbotts couldn’t gather, and the ball ran away for 5 wides.
A well-timed flick through mid-wicket brought Ekanayaka his first boundary in the next over before he pulled a short ball from Lovatt through the vacant square leg for his second boundary to round out the over and move the score to 107/3. Gidman drove Haslegrave splendidly over mid-off when he overpitched in the 20th over, taking his side to within 26 runs of victory. He whipped Haslegrave off his hip and away through mid-wicket for his 4th boundary in the 22nd over as Castle closed in further on their victory target.
Ekanayaka brought the scores level when he pulled a short ball from Lovatt over square leg for a six in the 24th over before Gidman struck with winning runs with a push into the legside in the next over to seal a dominant 7-wicket victory for the home side. Gidman was unbeaten on 26, and Ekanayaka made 21 as they shared 55 in just over 6 overs to see their side over the line with more than 20 overs to spare.
Checkley’s poor run of form continues, and it’s now 1 win in 6 for them as their title chances are beginning to slip away. Castle put in a very thorough performance today and were better than Checkley in every department. Their spinners swung the game in their favour, and Vallabhaneni’s fine knock after tea set them on their way to victory. Checkley face Porthill next week as they look to get their title challenge back on track, whilst Castle travel to leaders Moddershall in another game that could have a bearing on the title race.
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