Newcastle & Hartshill shine on road to take NSSCL Premier A points at Meakins. The North Staffs South Cheshire Results show a promising performance for the team.
CREDIT: Chris Travers Deputy Sports Editor/Cricket Writer @ Stoke Sentinel
There are also North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier A victories for Checkley and Stone SP on a weather-affected weekend
Newcastle & Hartshill managed to dodge the rain to secure victory on their NSSCL Premier A trip to Meakins.
The sides in the top flight saw their first foray this season into the red-ball win/lose/draw format blighted by the elements – but Castle still found the time to chalk up a fourth win since returning to Prem A.
Visitors Newcastle & Hartshill managed to find their way to 182-4 from a rain-reduced 28 overs in the early stages of their visit to Ivy House Road.
Opener Rohan Vallabhaneni set the tone with 86, an innings which contained eight fours and two sixes.
Muhammad Qamar Khan followed his lead with 39, while Rich Hagan weighed in with 31 not out late in the day. Simon Mugava picked up 3-46 for Meakins.
Jalat Khan (36) and Pete Wilshaw (12) made starts in Meakins’ reply, but a flurry of wickets ensured that it was soon all about survival for the home side.
Sachithra Perera and Dan Gibbs helped themselves to 5-11 and 3-28 respectively to leave Meakins praying that they could bat out time.
However, despite some late resistance, it wasn’t to be as they were bundled out for 90 in the 31st over.
The victory leaves Castle in fifth place in the standings, with Meakins languishing second from bottom.
Alsager still find themselves at the foot of the table after suffering a sixth defeat in seven in losing at Stone SP.
Stone SP, who are nestled neatly in the sanctuary of mid-table, seized control of matters by dismissing Alsager for 116 on Saturday.
Warwick Fynn (4-13) did the bulk of the damage and there were a couple of wickets apiece for Ed Batchelor and James Cope.
Asif Raza (27), Sam Goodwin (22), Aqeel Ahmed (19), James Bloor (18) and Sean Price (13) made the most headway with the bat for the visitors.
That target was never going to truly test Stone SP – and the only question was whether they could cross the line before any more rain arrived.
They certainly could as Fynn’s 38, 29 from George Hawbrook and Sam Graham’s 25 helped them to a six-wicket triumph in the 34th over of their chase.
Checkley were the other winners on the day as they jumped up to third spot by winning at Bagnall Norton.
In another rain-affected clash, Bagnall Norton were dismissed for 118 in 20 overs on home turf.
Jurie Snyman and Justin Mould both made 14, but the home side were indebted to Morgan Murray-Williams’ half-century for steering them beyond three figures.
Murray-Williams finished unbeaten on 67, hitting three fours and five sixes, to guide Bagnall Norton to their total.
Deepak Dhapola (3-20) and Jack Farrington (3-30) took three wickets apiece for Checkley, with Nils Priestley striking twice.
James Abbotts (36) handed Checkley a solid start to their reply before Priestley chipped in with 22.
It was then left to Josh Hewitt (20no) and Farrington (15no) to deal with batting business as Checkley won by three wickets in the 20th over.
Scott Winnington scooped 4-23 for Bagnall Norton and there were a couple of scalps for Snyman.
Leek are joint top of the table despite just missing out on victory at Longton.
The Moorlanders had to be content with a draw as they fell just four runs short of their target in a weather-affected clash at Ripon Road.
Leek were set 151 to win from 32 overs and looked to be on course for the points after Matthew Campbell made 33, Hamaiz Mahmood struck 16 and Tom Moulton chipped in with 15.
Alex Mellor (49no) and Rory Haydon (19no) maintained that push, but Leek eventually closed on 147-4. Chris Dyer took two of the wickets to fall.
Earlier in the day, Longton made their way to 150 all out.
Ben Sharp top-scored with 62, an innings which featured 12 fours and one six.
Euan Hurst (17), Dane Tinsley (16), Luke Woodward (14), Matheesha Perera (12) and Tom Hope (10) also made useful contributions.
Campbell was the star turn with the ball for Leek as he helped himself to figures of 7-32, while Rory Corden added a couple of scalps to boost the visitors’ bowling cause.
Audley are level on points with Leek at the summit after drawing at home against Moddershall & Oulton.
The weather impacted the Modd men’s innings, but they had made their way to 191-4 from 52 overs before skipper Sam Kelsall declared.
Fraser Hawkins and Arjun Annamalai both compiled half-centuries – sharing a third-wicket stand of 114 – to form the backbone of the visitors’ innings.
Hawkins hit nine fours and one six in his 82, with Annamalai’s 70 not out containing six boundaries and one maximum.
Huey Nield took two wickets for Audley.
The home side were left with 25 overs to knock off the runs – and started promisingly as Steve Stolk (42) and Freddie Doorbar (20) impressed.
But a steady stream of wickets affected their momentum and although Rob Hemmings made 16 not out, they drew stumps on 100-8.
Danushka Sandaruwan claimed 4-10 for Moddershall & Oulton and there were a couple of wickets for Joe Hawkins.
Hem Heath and Porthill Park shared the spoils from their 24-over per side meeting.
Louis Allison was in the runs for Porthill Park in their rain-affected North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier A clash at Hem Heath. (Image: Pete Stonier / Stoke Sentinel)
Hosts Hem Heath took first use and managed to make their way to 126-9 at the halfway point of the contest.
There were plenty of handy contributions throughout the innings as Callum Leese made 24, Kurtis Lally struck 21, EJ Laverty added 19 and there was 14 apiece for Matthew Hodson and Liam Banks.
Yohan Maddege and Ben Holt were the stars of the show with the ball for Porthill Park, claiming 4-31 and 3-28 respectively.
Porthill Park would have fancied their chances at that stage, especially with Louis Allison (38), Tom Steele (36) and Matthew Coxon (27) in fine touch.
But their efforts were in vain as they had to settle for a draw as they were on 113-7 when time was called. Greg Prime captured 4-32 and Banks chipped in with two wickets.
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PREMIER B
Knypersley impress to inflict first defeat on NSSCL Premier B leaders Wood Lane
Whitmore are the only other winners in North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier B on a weather-affected day
Knypersley brought an end to Wood Lane’s unblemished start to the NSSCL Premier B campaign.
Danny Brierley’s side had won all six of their pink-ball encounters before the sides switched to red ball matters.
And the change in format also saw Wood Lane suffer defeat for the first time this summer as they lost by seven wickets in a rain-affected game on their trip to Tunstall Road.
Wood Lane took first use and managed to reach 125-6 from their 25 overs, fronted by Martin Dawson’s unbeaten 32 and 30 from Knype old boy Jake Thompson.
Steven Brierley, Danny Brierley and Liam Kelter all contributed 16 apiece for the table-toppers.
Ahmed Abbasi and Daniyal Hussain Rajput shared four of the wickets to fall.
Knypersley saw Cameron Allen made 22 early in their chase to set them on the right path to the points.
And Rajput then compiled 50 not out, featuring five fours and one six, with Abbasi adding 29 to see them to their target with seven balls remaining.
Whitmore took advantage of Wood Lane’s loss to close the gap to the summit to five points with a tense home success against Eccleshall.
Half-centuries from Saad Qureshi and Caleb Mierkalns had helped Whitmore to amass 190-8 declared from 50 overs early in the piece.
Mierkalns had been quick out of the blocks with a 27-ball 50, hitting nine fours and one six, up front for Whitmore.
Qureshi then took over, striking eight boundaries and three sixes in his 75 not out.
Andrew Calvert picked up 4-21 for Eccleshall and Matthew Wright finished with figures of 3-37.
Eccleshall were left with 27 overs to either knock off the runs or bat out for a draw.
They managed neither as, with four balls of the match left, they were dismissed for 94.
Greg Clark (22), Connor Beasley (20) and Calvert (15) made the most progress with the bat.
But it was Whitmore who were left celebrating as Oliver Johnson scooped 4-19 and there were two wickets each for Muhammad Imran and Bilal Hussain.
Norton in Hales came so close to pulling off victory at fellow strugglers Ashcombe Park.
Norton in Hales managed to navigate their way to 187-9 declared from 44 overs at Basford Bridge Lane.
A third-wicket stand of 95 between Rameez Alam and Isaac Foster helped them to that tally.
Nathan Ball picked up four wickets in Ashcombe Park’s North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier B game against Norton in Hales. (Image: Pete Stonier / Stoke Sentinel)
Alam hit nine fours and two sixes in his 74, with Foster lending valuable support with 31.
Ronan Farnell weighed in with 18, while Nathan Ball and Anis Raza both snared 4-57.
Ashcombe Park had 24 overs to face in reply – but were soon in early trouble as they were reduced to 19-5.
Chris Jenkins (18) and Phil Clowes (11) dug in, but they then found themselves 49-9 with seven overs still to play.
However, a much-needed rearguard action was provided by Raza (30no) and last man Dan Sutton (4no) as they led Ashcombe Park to 75-9 at the close.
George Walker was the star with the ball for Norton in Hales, claiming 5-12, with Aaron Thomason scooping a couple of scalps.
Elworth and Bignall End shared the points in their meeting in Cheshire.
Hosts Elworth made excellent progress to 178-6 from 26 overs, fronted by half-centuries from Alex Banks and Daniel Cooper.
The pair put on 105 for the third wicket, with Banks top-scoring with 67. He hit seven fours.
And Cooper struck the same number of boundaries in his 59, before Jarrod McKay (38no) added some late impetus to proceedings.
Liam Hassett and Ben Dixon shared four wickets for visiting Bignall End.
The weather meant that Bignall End had 23 overs to face in reply – and they comfortably negotiated a draw.
Jon Maskrey batted through for an unbeaten 24, with Rohan Hesketh weighing in with 45 as they closed on 92-4.
McKay completed a fine individual day with 3-18.
Honours were also even at Park Terrace where Leycett and Hem Heath seconds drew.
Visitors Hem Heath impressed on their way to 182-5 from 44 overs before calling time on their innings.
Tom Myatt led their run spree with 67, an innings which contained nine fours and one six.
Yohan Liyanage (42no) and Ben Pugh (24) were also in fine touch for the visitors. Matt Johnson and Darren Snape both took two wickets.
Leycett had 24 overs in their reply, and managed to reach 103-5 before time was called.
Dan Redfern made 30 not out, with Ben Shirley chipping in with 27.
Nazakat Ali and Liyanage both finished with a couple of scalps for Hem Heath.
Cheadle and Burslem also shook hands on a draw from their encounter at Tean Road.
Visitors Burslem were indebted to Shoaib Akhtar for leading them to 175 all out after batting first in the Moorlands.
Akhtar struck 11 fours and one six in his 96 to form the backbone of Burslem’s innings.
Dilesh Gunarathne added 25 lower down, with Will Dobbie helping himself to 3-25 for the home side.
There were also a couple of wickets apiece for James Sellers, Matthew Goodwin and Ryan Harvey.
Cheadle tumbled to 18-5 in their reply to leave Burslem scenting victory. However, Matthew Sellers (49no) and Goodwin (25) dug deep to eventually guide the hosts to 103-7 at stumps.
Gunarathne had piqued Burslem’s victory interest with a haul of 5-28 before Cheadle displayed some much-needed resistance.
CREDIT: Chris Travers Deputy Sports Editor/Cricket Writer @ Stoke Sentinel
