Denby in Premier play-off triumph
THEY would probably not have been called favourites before the truncated season started but it is Denby who have taken the Derbyshire Premier Division honours after an outstanding campaign which culminated in victory over Spondon in the play-off on Saturday.
Denby went through their 10-match North group season with only one defeat and bowled out South group winners Spondon for only 100 to set up a six-wicket win in the play-off.
Spondon captain Adam Finlay’s decision to bat first backfired on him as Isaace Harrision departed to a second ball duck and was followed back quickly by Mitchell Wagstaff, Alistair Dixon and Joe Ashdown to make it 11-4.
Paul Edwards was next out at 23-5 and things only got marginally better for Spondon as Josh Brear dug in for 94 balls to make 47 not out.
Only James Rigg and Finlay edged into double figures as the innings ended at 35.4 overs, with Ben Scott having taken 4-21 from seven overs and Peter Burgoyne 3-19 from 7.4 overs.
Denby did not make it easy for themselves in reply, as Paul Allen took two early wickets, then Joe Ashdown took two with the score on 36 to make it 36-4.
Ashdown went on to complete a miserly spell of 4-20 from 10 overs but with Spondon having so few runs to play with, Denby could afford to see him off.
From 65-6, captain Dan Burgoyne (17 not out) and Scott (23 not out) edged their team to the target in 30.5 overs.
Ockbrook & Borrowash firsts had missed their chance to make the Premier play-off with defeat last week but their seconds won the Division Two play-off, beating Quarndon by 72 runs.
Ethan Berlusconi (63) and Charlie Birch-Mann (62) were the main contributors to a challenging total of 246-9 that Quarndon found beyond them despite 56 from Jonny Acton.
Birch-Mann added 3-30 to his day and veteran captain Steve Scrimshaw took 3-37 as Quarndon were bowled out for 174.
Denby seconds could not make it a club double in the Division Three North play-off after posting 170 against Hundall, who got the runs with two wickets standing and one ball to spare.
Denby’s fifths were in action the next day in the Division Nine North play-off but were also beaten.
Their 195-7 looked competitive but Calow knocked them off without loss, albeit with only eight balls to spare, Gareth Mainprize making 101 not out from 103 balls and Nikolaus Frenzel 82 not out from 133 balls.
The top scorer in the play-off matches was Hartshorne’s Mazhar Iqbal in Division Five South, the opener hitting 115 not out from as many balls, with 15 fours and two sixes, to lead his side to an imposing 265-3 against Stanton by Dale, who succumbed for 193.
There will be no promotion and relegation in the County League after this shortened season but the league’s administrators have been widely praised for the format they came up with when it became possible to fit in some cricket this summer.
Divisions were split in two to minimise travelling and after home and away matches between all the sides, the weekend’s play-offs brought together the winners of each half.