Marcus sees it through but another loss for Ashbourne
ASHBOURNE must break a run of nine straight defeats if they are to stay in Derbyshire County League Division Five South.
Defeat to Kings Bromley on Saturday sees them only six points above the relegation places with three games to play, while Rolleston thirds, who occupy the second relegation place, have a game in hand.
Crucially, the two sides meet on Saturday at Rolleston.
At the weekend, it was a toss both sides wanted to win in wet conditions but Charith De Silva lost it and Ashbourne found themselves batting.
Uthum De Silva was bowled early on and Marcus Bateman went in with instructions to try to bat through.
That he did, for 61 not out, but no one could stay with him as the innings stuttered to 84-6 until he was joined by Andy Hill.
The pair saw the last 13 overs through, adding 61, with Hill 37 not out, and Ashbourne closed on 145-6 from their 45 overs.
However, they were completely unable to put a brake on Kings Bromley’s reply.
With the weather threatening, they went for their shots from the off and charged past Ashbourne’s total for the loss of three wickets in 20.2 overs.
Ashbourne seconds beat bottom club Brailsford thirds in Division Nine South West. Ashbourne put up 209-8 with Colin Terry top-scoring, and bowled Brailsford out for 170.
Meanwhile, Ashbourne’s new women’s team had their first outing in a tournament at Sandiacre Town.
Captained by Michelle Huggett, they did not win a game but enjoyed the experience.
BRAILSFORD were playing on Sunday in Division Three South, with the result that they were the only team in the division to pick up a win at the weekend.
All the Saturday games were either cancelled or abandoned with only one innings possible.
On Sunday, though, Brailsford were away to leaders Mickleover, won the toss, put them in and bowled them out for 107. Opening bowler Alexander Reid took 4-18 from 10 overs, Duncan Player 2-31 from 10 overs, Shahid Nazir mopped up with 2-3 from five overs and there was a wicket each for Ian Clarke and Rupert Sanderson.
In reply, Brailsford had to negotiate a good spell from Oliver Cammidge, who took 4-26 from 10 overs, but they were the only four wickets to fall as Adam Randall applied himself for 25 from 51 balls, all but one of them in boundaries, and Matt Dowling made 33 not out at a run a ball as the target was reached in the 24th over.
Brailsford seconds’ game at home to Etwall seconds was abandoned with Etwall having reached 135-1 from 32 overs, Stephen Briggs taking the only wicket to fall in a tidy spell of 1-21 from 10 overs.
CLIFTON’S relegation rivals in Division One gained one point on them once everyone had succumbed to the weather and worked out where their games were at when they were halted.
Whether or not Clifton would have grabbed a precious win at home to Lullington Park was in the balance.
They had been bowled out for only 129 but had Lullington in trouble on 22-3 from eight overs at the premature end of the game.
Put in, Clifton lost Mohsin Ali to the first ball of the innings, then Usman and Aqib Afzaal made only 12 apiece and the next four went for single figures as Lullington’s experienced spinner, Paul Dawson, found conditions to his liking, taking 5-21 from 11 overs.
With his spell done, the Clifton tail wagged a little, recovering from 54-7 to 129 all out, with Jack Barker making 14, Stuart Blake 22, Bilal Hussain 16 and teenager Kian Walwyn 12 not out.
Harry Moore bowled a good spell when Lullington replied, nipping out Dawson for a duck from the last ball of the first over and bowling Alex Cooper for four to have 2-13 from four overs.
Hussain took 1-8 from his four but that was as far as the innings got and Clifton took nine points to Lullington’s 11.
Below them in the table, bottom club Duffield took 10 points from a rain-affected tie with Cutthorpe. They made 243-6 but Cutthorpe’s revised target was 163 from 40 overs and they made 162-1.
Wirksworth, second bottom, also took 10 points after keeping Morton Colliery to 102-8 from 37 overs but making only 34-2 from eight overs themselves.
Clifton seconds’ Saturday game in Division Six South was abandoned after they had reached 128-1 away to Kirk Langley but they followed up with a good win in better weather on Sunday.
Put in by Mickleover seconds, they made 221 all out, Tom Hilton top-scoring with 63 and six other players chipping in with double figures.
Tight bowling in the reply kept Mickleover behind the clock, as Kit Develin took 2-14 from 10 overs and Rob Mccurrach 2-23 from 10 overs. Eddie Donnelly also took two wickets and there were one apiece for Stuart Apanasewicz and Jamie Longyear as Mickleover ground to 145-9 from their 45 overs and a 76-run defeat.
The thirds’ hopes of winning Division Nine South West took a blow when their game away to Kings Bromley seconds could not be started, while Dunstall thirds were able to play and win away to Sawley fourths to establish a 14-point lead at the top.