Balderton still searching for first win after Radcliffe game is rained off
Balderton’s search for their first win of the season continues after their match against bottom side Radcliffe was rained off in the second innings.
The rain may have salvaged two points for Balderton, who were set a tough target by their visitors thanks to superb batting from Lui Holliday and Connor Marshall.
Balderton won the toss and put Radcliffe in, allowing opener Holliday the chance to shine at the wicket.
He scored a splendid 110 not out and put on a ferocious partnership with Connor Marshall, who made 102 before being caught by Steven Barnett off Kieran Wiffin.
Wiffin took two wickets for 35 runs.
Holliday and Marshall’s efforts resulted in Radcliffe posting 250 for four at the end of their 40 overs, asking plenty of questions of Balderton’s batting order.
The hosts didn’t get off to the best of starts with number one and number three batsmen Michael Duffy (11) and Harry Capstick (0) dismissed early on.
Lewis Lambert (15 not out) and Ian Robinson (35 not out) appeared to have steadied the ship but a heavy downpour forced a premature end to the game with Balderton on 74 for two after 12 overs.
Balderton remain second from bottom.
Aaman Singh took three wickets as Thurgarton crashed to a 136-run defeat to league leaders Plumtree.
Plumtree, who have won all five of their completed fixtures this season, elected to bat and powered into a strong lead of 260, with Singh finishing on three wickets for 58.
Thurgarton opener Colin Cliff scored 59 before being bowled by Saqlain Bazmi and the rest of the batting order never really got going, as they came up against some tight bowling.
Josh Downie scored 17 but his dismissal spelled the start of a poor batting performance as Thurgarton slumped from 36 for one to 92 for seven.
Number nine batsman Tim Kirkham proved to be an unlikely problem for Plumtree’s bowlers as he hit a defiant 26 not out from 14 balls, but Thurgarton ended on 124 for nine.
Division Two
Luke Endley’s half-century wasn’t enough for Claypole, who suffered a damaging defeat to relegation-rivals Ellerslie.
Claypole were put in by their hosts and lost an early wicket as Robert Pealing was bowled by Usman Aziz.
Adam Clarke (21) and Chris Dobbie (25) got Claypole up and running again with Joe Attewell (35) and Endley (65) increasing their side’s score substantially thanks to a partnership of 100.
The Lincolnshire team closed on 209 all out having batted all but three balls of their 40 overs.
They looked in the ascendancy when Endley claimed the wicket of Ellerslie opener Richard Renwick with only 12 runs on the board.
But Ellerslie responded well and a partnership of 112 between Sunil Shrestna and Patrick Gada lifted the hosts to 191 before Ben Wadd finally made the breakthrough.
By then it was too late for Claypole, as Ellerslie scored the winning runs with five balls remaining to win by five wickets.
Division Three
Ricky Martin took two wickets in Oxton’s rain-hit match against top-of-the-table Calverton.
Matt Dean top-scored for the league leaders with 55 runs, with James Toogood (47) and Brinsley Kirkham (40) also making telling contributions to Calverton’s 195 total.
Martin’s two wickets came at cost of 37 runs. James Crudgington and Michael Berry provided the other two dismissals.
Oxton’s response was only ten overs old when the game was called off with the team on 22 for two.
Fiskerton took their second win of the season in as many weeks after defeating Kegworth Town away in a low-scoring game.
The visitors looked in trouble after finishing on just 99 all out, but some excellent bowling ensured they earned maximum points.
Kegworth were sent back to the pavilion for 71 to give Fiskerton a 28-run win, which lifted them level on points with their opponents.
Stunning bowling from Nick Goodchild saw Colston Bassett edge closer to the top three as they beat Notts Unity Casuals by 53 runs.
Adam Peel scored 37 in a nondescript batting performance from Colston Bassett, but Goodchild provided fireworks by taking seven wickets for a mere 17 runs.
The Casuals went from 33 for no loss to being skittled for 75, largely thanks to Goodchild’s devastating display of bowling.
Division Four
Mark Smith’s four wickets weren’t enough to stop ten-man Hoveringham losing to Chilwell, relinquishing their grip on third place in the process.
Smith claimed the wickets of in-form batters Waseem Ahktar (54) and Muhammad Yasar (63) as Chilwell reached 208 before being bowled out.
In response, openers Chris Cupit and Tom Hart knocked 22 and 27 respectively to provide Hoveringham with a strong foundation, but only number six batsman Nick Walton could improve on their scores with his 28 as the visitors were all out for 128 to lose by 80 runs.
Lambley Village settled for a draw after their innings was cut short by the wet weather.
Opponents Wollaton knocked 218 for seven, and Lambley were on the back-foot on 24 for three when the rain started.
Bottom-side Southwell conceded their game away at Rainbow.
Division Five
Balderton 2nds were saved by the weather as they plummeted towards defeat away at Nottingham Badshahs 2nds.
Chasing 145, Balderton were hopelessly stranded on 24 for six when the rain caused the game to be abandoned.
