Bat’s not enough as Clifton are beaten by Ilkeston
IT was back down to earth again for Clifton as they went down by 56 runs away to Ilkeston Rutland in Derbyshire County League Division One.
They welcomed back captain Josh Hewitt but had Harry Moore and Adam Leigh missing.
Moore is currently representing the Midlands at the prestigious Bunbury Tournament at Loughborough.
Leigh is in Canada, representing Denmark in an ICC World Cup qualifying tournament – more to follow on that when he gets back at the weekend.
Ilkeston won the toss and chose to bat, with regular opening bowler Rob Green taking a turn with the bat and scoring 50.
Oliver Flindall added 55 not out and Luke Marriott 40 but Clifton did a reasonable job to keep them down to 228-8.
Paul Allen turned in a good spell of 3-32 from 12 overs, Craig Williamson took 2-17 and Atta Ur Rehman 2-46.
However, the reply soon ran into trouble, with Mohsin Ali, Alex Blake and Rehman all out cheaply with 30 on the board.
Mehran Ibrahim and Will Wilson (27) repaired the damage somewhat with a stand of 81 but Ibrahim’s dismissal for 52 was crucial and Hewitt’s 30 was the only other substantial contribution as the innings fell away for 172.
The seconds were also beaten, being bowled out for an inadequate 154 by Winshill seconds in Division Six South.
James Bakewell’s 43 in the middle order was the main score.
Winshill cruised to a comfortable six-wicket win in 36.2 overs, although Samil Mahmood took 2-36 in 10 overs.
The thirds were without a game.
ASHBOURNE firsts turned in another poor batting performance to lose by five wickets away to Mugginton.
Sasanka Ranatunga and Arsherr Fernando both went early for ducks after Ashbourne chose to bat.
Mohammad Khan made 29 and Abhi Bidari, lifted up the order after his early exploits with the bat, made 32 but after that it was only Mohammed Haroon who held Mugginton up with 37 not out as they were dismissed for 118, William Woodward taking 6-26.
Mugginton knocked off the target for the loss of five wickets in 31.3 overs.
The seconds cruised to an eight-wicket win at home to Mickleover thirds in Division Nine South West.
They bowled tightly to see off Mickleover for 146, with Liam Duffy taking 2-19 from nine overs and Andy Hill 2-12 from five overs.
A second-wicket stand of 72 between Ed Hodgson (46) and Duffy (43 not out) ensured there would be few alarms and Duffy then added an unbroken 49 with Paul Duke (24 not out) to complete victory in 25.5 overs.
There was a big win, too, for the third team in Division Nine Central South.
Simon Hellaby hit 13 fours and 13 sixes as he smashed 151 against Duffield fourths, while Deliya Wickramasinghe hit 10 fours and six sixes – and a single – in his 77 not out as they reached 319-3 in 40 overs.
Duffield could only manage 180 in reply, with Wickramasinghe adding 3-37 to his day’s work and George Miller taking 3-19.
BRAILSFORD eased their relegation fears in Division Three South with a 33-run win away to Alrewas seconds.
Matt Dowling’s 34 was the top score as they pieced together 182 all out after choosing to bat but it proved to be plenty.
Alrewas wickets fell at regular intervals, with Ian Clarke taking 4-30 from nine overs and Duncan Player and Stephen Briggs taking two wickets each.
The innings ended at 149 in 34.4 overs.
The thirds battled to a creditable draw away to Yoxall in Division Nine South West.
Gareth Lewis hit 105 at a run a ball as Yoxall clocked up a commanding 245-8.
Brailsford could not chase that down but veteran Phil Derbyshire ensured they would not be beaten, with an unbeaten 110 out of 153-4, hitting 20 fours.
They slipped to 48-4 but
Mark Chesher dug in with Derbyshire to score 11 not out from 73 balls.
WOOTTON secured a good seven-wicket win at home to Spondon thirds in Division Four South.
Spondon chose to bat and put up a challenging 194-8 in their 45 overs but Wootton cruised past that in 38 overs to draw level with Spondon on 253 points, joint third in the table.
Eight points behind second place, they could yet have a hand in the promotion chase.
Wootton seconds and Brailsford seconds could hardly be separated in a close draw in Division Seven South.
Wootton chose to bat and made 228-8, the innings being boosted late on by Daniel Forrester’s 64 not out.
Brailsford lost early wickets in reply but Chris Clarke’s 96 kept them going, then James Buckler got them close with 56 not out.
They could not quite get close enough and the innings closed on 221-8, Wootton taking 17 points and Brailsford 13.