According to the latest North Staffs South Cheshire results, Longton make it three NSSCL Premier A wins in a row by demolishing Alsager
CREDIT: Chris Travers Deputy Sports Editor/Cricket Writer @ Stoke Sentinel
There are also wins for Checkley, Meakins, Leek, Moddershall & Oulton and Audley in North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier A
Longton’s renaissance continued as they dismantled Alsager in their weekend NSSCL Premier A meeting.
Lee Ridgway’s side had opened the campaign with three straight defeats and only managed to pick up 14 points in the process.
But they have flipped their form on its head and banked a third successive victory with a demolition of newly-promoted Alsager on Saturday.
Hosts Alsager never got out of the traps and found themselves 18-7 in the blink of an eye.
And Longton were in no mood to let up after such an impressive start as they eventually bundled out their rivals for a paltry 46.
Manraj Johal (14) was the only home batsman to reach double figures.
Tom Hope and Nipun Lamahewage picked up 4-12 and 3-9 respectively, with Ben Green also chipping in with a couple of victims.
Longton needed just 11.2 overs to knock off the runs as Euan Hurst’s 29 completed a nine-wicket win.
Alsager, who won their first game in the top flight at Meakins, have now lost five games in a row as the teams switch to the red-ball section of the season.
Meakins signed off from the pink-ball round of fixtures with an impressive success at defending champions Hem Heath.
Karl High (24), Jalat Khan (16) and Ash Shaw (15) made starts early on, but the visitors were reduced to 103-6.
They needed a sizeable contribution at that juncture and Simon Mugava was the man to provide it.
Mugava blasted four fours and seven sixes in a 73-ball 85 to propel Meakins to 256-9 from their 45 overs.
Simon Mugava played a key innings as Meakins won at Hem Heath in North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier A. (Image: Pete Stonier / Stoke Sentinel)
Captain Jack Hammond lent support with 25, with Oliver Tucker adding an unbeaten 17 late in the day.
New Zealand paceman Ray Toole (3-25) was the pick of the Hem Heath attack, with Liam Banks and Tom Hodson striking twice.
That big target looked to be in range for Hem Heath on the resumption as they found themselves nicely placed on 122-2.
Banks was at the forefront of the chase as he compiled 64, which included four boundaries and five maximums.
Alec Price (45) was also in fine fettle, but the wheels then came off the hosts’ response.
They succumbed to 190 all out – despite Harvey Ault chipping in with 27 – as Meakins’ bowlers took charge.
Khan (3-17) and Johnathan Clowes (3-28) did the bulk of the damage, backed up by two wickets for Staffordshire spinner Tucker.
At the top of table, it’s Audley who lead the way after six weekends as they banked the points on their trip to Porthill Park.
It was a masterclass from skipper Rob Hemmings which helped to set up their fifth victory of the season.
Audley were wobbling on 76-4 on their visit to the Old County Ground before Hemmings and Jack Redman joined forces.
The pair put on 182 for the fifth wicket as Audley recovered superbly to finish on 270-5.
Redman was happy to play the anchor role as he made 77, which featured eight fours and one six.
But it was Hemmings’ big hitting which ultimately put the game out of Porthill Park’s reach.
The all-rounder plundered eight fours and nine sixes in an unbeaten 116, which came off just 85 deliveries.
Matt Coxon (3-22) was the pick of the Porthill Park bowling effort.
In reply, Porthill Park saw Tom Steele and Louis Allison both compile half-centuries.
Steele hit six boundaries and one six in his 54, with Allison smashing three fours and four maximums in his 53.
But despite Jack Kesteven weighing in weighing in with 17, Porthill Park were dismissed for 186.
Ben Mellor helped himself to 4-29 and there were two wickets apiece for Steve Stolk and Tom Boundy.
Second-placed Leek are four points off the summit following their home win against Bagnall Norton.
Matthew Campbell provided Leek with a solid start after they took first use with 54, hitting four fours and one six in the process.
However, it needed the middle-order intervention of Alex Mellor to navigate Leek to 204-6 at the halfway point of the contest.
Mellor’s unbeaten 71 featured three boundaries, with support forthcoming from Rory Haydon (23).
Andrew Whitehurst captured 3-39 for Bagnall Norton and there were two victims for Muhammad Mujahid.
Bagnall Norton struggled to get going in their reply as Leek’s attack keep them on a tight lease.
Mujahid contributed 34 and Justin Mould added 32, but the visitors were restricted to 143-9 when time was called.
Ross Dearden bowled a miserly seven-over spell to end with 3-10, while Campbell followed up his earlier batting exploits with 3-28.
Moddershall & Oulton are in third after a comfortable home victory over Stone SP.
It was a solid batting performance from the Modd men to stick 164-6 on the board in the first half of the afternoon.
Joe Hawkins top-scored with 37, with other handy contributions coming from Fraser Hawkins (26), Sam Atkinson (24no), Arjun Annamalai (19) and Dan Richardson (17).
Joey Sharp and Warrick Fynn shared four of the wickets to fall.
William Hobson (18) and Sam Graham (14) led Stone SP to 38-2 in the formative stages of their run chase.
But from that point, Modd’s bowlers seized control to eventually skittle the visitors for 79.
Joseph Walley impressed in taking 3-22 and there were a couple of wickets apiece for Sam Kelsall and Danushka Sandaruwan.
Checkley are up to fourth place in the standings after seeing off the challenge of Newcastle & Hartshill.
Hosts Checkley were indebted to a first-wicket stand of 118 between James Abbotts and Tom Carrigan for laying the foundations for their 213 all out.
Abbotts hit eight fours and one six in his 84, with Carrigan lending support with 40.
Michael Allen (16) and Josh Hewitt (14) also made starts, but Castle fought back impressively thanks to Rich Hagan (4-32) and Sachithra Perera (4-50).
Opener Ryan Hassett top-scored with 52 in Castle’s reply, an innings which contained seven boundaries and one six.
Hagan (32), Muhammad Qamar Khan (21) and Jonathon Gidman (14) also starred, but Castle failed to build on being in a promising position on 113-2 to be bowled out for 181.
Charlie Lewis (4-38) was the star of the show with the ball for Checkley, with four wickets being shared by Deepak Dhapola and Richard Cooper.
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PREMIER B
Imran and McAll are too hot to handle as Whitmore power to NSSCL Premier B win
Bignall End, Burslem, Cheadle, Knypersley and Wood Lane also bank the points in North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier B
Whitmore produced a devastating bowling performance to pile more woe on NSSCL Premier B bottom-of-the-table outfit Norton in Hales.
Hosts Norton in Hales were set 147 for victory, but endured a run chase to forget.
They slid to 4-6 and 16-8 at times before eventually being bowled out for 33. Aaron Thomason’s 10 was the only contribution in double figures.
Whitmore new-ball pair Muhammad Imran and Matt McAll did the damage as they scooped 5-17 and 4-14 respectively.
The visitors had been forced to navigate their way out of trouble in their own innings in the formative stages of the contest.
They found themselves 23-4 before Fraser James (45), Imran (34) and Danyal Hussain (23) led them to 146 all out.
George Walker helped himself to 4-30 for Norton in Hales, with the remaining wickets being shared by Ewan Farnell, Anthony Sheeran and James Pringle.
However, Whitmore’s bowlers then went on a hot streak to secure an ultimately comfortable win for their side.
Leycett find themselves second-from-bottom at the end of the pink-ball section after losing heavily at Knypersley.
Knypersley took first use and made their way to 224-5 from their 45 overs.
Openers Jack Muni and Cameron Allen set the platform for that tally with 35 apiece, with Daniyal Hussain Rajput chipping in with 26.
Experienced campaigner Paul Goodwin then compiled 62, featuring 10 fours, and Danny Baker added 33 not out to keep the scoreboard gainfully employed. Matt Johnson took two wickets.
Leycett’s reply never truly got off the ground despite Isaac McDonald (26no), Richard Walker (13) and Finley Waterhouse (11) all making starts.
They were skittled for 92 as Rajput claimed 5-22, Jacob Cumberbatch weighed in with 3-18 and Liam Hopkins added a double.
Bignall End recovered from a poor start to eventually defeat Hem Heath seconds at Boon Hill.
It looked like being a testing afternoon for Bignall End once they were reduced to 48-7 on home turf.
But they found some much-needed resistance in the shape of Niall Hassett’s 45, Aunn Shah’s 36 and 19 not out from Hamid Ali.
Jack Jones picked up 4-22 for Hem Heath and there were two wickets apiece for Ben Topley and Ben Lucas.
That momentum swing carried over into the second innings as Bignall End’s bowlers came to the fore.
Ali snared 4-16 and Ben Dixon captured 3-8 to ensure Hem Heath were dismissed for 96.
Danny Sanders top-scored for the visitors with 19, with Tom Myatt and Nazakat Ali both making 14.
Staffordshire batsman Matthew Morris scored a century to pave the way for Burslem to beat Elworth.
Morris’ 100, which included 13 fours, formed the backbone of hosts Burslem’s 222-8 from their allocation.
Matthew Morris scored a century for Burslem in their North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier B victory over Elworth. (Image: Alfie Shenton)
Opening partner Shoaib Akhtar lent support with 37, with Eranga Dissanagge adding 17.
Russ Ballard helped himself to 3-22 for the Cheshire visitors and there were a couple of scalps for James Burnett.
Ash Rogers fronted the Elworth reply with a hard-hitting 85, which contained four fours and six sixes.
Chris Regan made 26 and Harry Newton scored 19, but Elworth fell short as they were bowled out for 183.
Thomas Caton was the architect of their downfall with a fine haul of 5-25, backed up by two wickets apiece for Dilesh Gunarathne and Dissanagge.
Leaders Wood Lane maintained their perfect start to the league season as they banked a sixth successive win in seeing off Ashcombe Park.
Visitors Ashcombe Park ventured to the crease first up and managed to stick 176 all out on the board.
That was largely thanks to a trio of handy contributions from David Proffitt (44), Riecko Parker-Cole (30) and Peter Farrow (28).
Codie Knight (3-27), Eddie Visser (3-30) and Martin Dawson (3-53) all finished with three wickets for Wood Lane.
Wood Lane looked like they might be in a spit of trouble when they were 63-3 after the interval.
However, Jake Thompson and Dawson joined forces to compile what turned out to be a matchwinning partnership.
Thompson finished on 63 not out, an innings featuring six fours and one six, with Dawson striking six boundaries and two maximums in his 52 as the hosts won by six wickets with more than three overs to spare.
Cheadle are in second place, 22 points off top spot, following their win at Eccleshall.
Ali Khan showed his destructive powers once more with 135, hitting 13 fours and seven sixes, as Cheadle racked up 257-9 from their 45 overs.
Matthew Sellers and Alfie Bonehill chipped in with 33 and 23 respectively.
Ejaz Nawaz (3-30) and Joe Evans (3-39) shared the bowling plaudits for Eccleshall.
Andrew Calvert replied with 55 and Jack Knapper contributed 32, but Eccleshall were never in the frame to knock off that big score.
They were all out for 143 as Jack Hassall claimed 3-22 and there were double strikes from James Sellers and Ryan Harvey.
CREDIT: Chris Travers Deputy Sports Editor/Cricket Writer @ Stoke Sentinel
