It’s a rare treble as all Clifton teams are victorious
GLASSES were raised in the Chapel Lane pavilion as all three Clifton teams registered important wins on Saturday.
The firsts continued their up and down season with the bat with a strong run chase to follow a decent bowling performance to see off bottom club Elvaston in Derbyshire County League Division One.
Harry Moore, who took 1-26 from 11 overs, and Adam Leigh each took early wickets after Elvaston chose to bat and they continued to chip away.
Edd Wilson’s spell of 4-42 as second change took out the middle order but they were held up by Jack Blaver (46) and Joel Muir (42 not out), who got their side up to 197 all out.
Alex Blake was an early casualty, for six, when Clifton batted but the score was already on 47 with Mohsin Ali going well on 36.
Atta Ur Rehman came and went, hitting three fours in an eight-ball stay but Ali went on to 50 from 37 balls, with five sixes and two fours, as Mehran Ibrahim settled in.
When Ibrahim was joined by Moore at 111-3, it was the end of Elvaston’s success with the ball as the pair added an unbroken 90 to sweep their team to victory in only 23 overs.
Ibrahim battered 81 not out from 46 balls with 13 fours and a six and Moore was on 33 not out from 35 balls at the end.
It is a win which has lifted Clifton 33 points clear of the drop zone.
The seconds are also out of the Division Six South drop zone after an important win against Swarkestone thirds, who replace them in the bottom two.
They put Swarkestone in and bowled them out for 150, with Ben Whadcoat making 49 and Robert Thompson 40.
Alastair Pike wrapped up the innings with 3-17 from 3.4 overs. There were two wickets each for Matt Jones, Samil Mahmood and Sam Goddard, the other going to Stuart Blake.
The chase was straightforward enough despite skipper Phil Marsh going early for five.
Stuart Apanasewicz (24 from 79 balls) and Tom Hilton (41 from 59 balls) added 72 for the second wicket.
Hilton was out at 109 but Harvey Clarke hit 30 not out from 28 balls with a couple of sixes to complete a sevenwicket win in 32.3 overs.
The thirds are still challenging at the right end of the Division Nine South West table after an explosive innings by James Bakewell pointed them towards a big win over Mickleover thirds.
Bakewell had not previously scored a century for the club but after his sister, Jess, scored her first 50 last week, he was not to be outdone and slammed 133 from 106 balls, with 15 fours and eight sixes.
He added 101 for the second wicket with Laurence Tinsley (63 from 72 balls), then 121 for the third wicket with Adam Gerrard (29 not out).
Clifton declared at 263-3 soon after Bakewell was out and Mickleover did not get close once Alex Thomson’s attempt to emulate Bakewell was ended by Lucas Shirtcliffe on 38 from 19 balls.
Shirtcliffe finished with 3-21 and Ben King with 3-37 as Mickleover were bowled out for 129.
ASHBOURNE firsts were also in need of a win towards the bottom of Division Six South.
Their batting has also been hit and miss but they came good at home to top half side Draycott & Hanbury.
Mohammad “Sunny” Khan and Arsherr Fernando put on 149 for the second wicket to make Draycott rue choosing to field.
Khan hit 119 from 117 balls with 19 fours and Fernando 57 from 94 balls.
It was just a case of chipping in for the rest as the score reached 260-8.
It was many more than Draycott would have been expecting to chase and they were bowled out for 173.
For them, Sajid Aziz stood firm to make 62 not out but Sahir Alam took 3-21 from 10 overs and there were two wickets each for Andy Hill, Fernando and Charith De Silva.
The seconds’ promotion chase was set back a little by a losing draw away to Kirk Langley seconds in Division Nine South West.
The home side chose to bat and Richard Coulson had a day to remember for them, smashing 146 from only 70 balls, with 19 fours and seven sixes, as they reached 240 all out.
As the innings subsided from 193-2, Liam Duffy took 5-20 and Paul Duke 4-60.
Ashbourne had to settle for 171-6 in reply.
The thirds took a losing draw against Division Nine Central South leaders Lullington Park thirds, who scored 179-2 in 33 overs in a rain-shortened game. Ashbourne replied with 114-5.
IT was a bad day for Brailsford firsts, shot out for 114 by Etwall in Division Three South and beaten by 10 wickets.
The seconds had a winning draw away to Breadsall seconds in Division Seven South, Tom Hall (79) and Richard Fletcher (61) contributing to 255-6, to which Breadsall replied with 200-4.
The thirds were bowled out for 66, faced with Alvaston & Boulton fourths’ 250-8 in Division Nine South West.
WOOTTON firsts registered their ninth win of the Division Four South season after bowling out Dunstall seconds for 127.
Ian Whitehurst took 5-27 and William Kent 3-29 to do most of the damage.
Joe Johnson’s patient 54 not out from 101 balls ensured no alarms in the chase, Whitehurst finishing on 25 not out as the pair added an unbroken 67 for the third wicket in an eight-wicket win.
Despite 60 from Rhodri Dunphy, the seconds were bowled out for 126 by Melbourne Town seconds, who won by eight wickets in Division Seven South.