Fire man unable to spark side on return
EVEN the return of Matt Critchley from playing with Welsh Fire in The Hundred was not enough to ease Chesterfield’s worries at the bottom of the Beechwood Mazda Derbyshire Premier Division.
They had two matches at the weekend against two of the other clubs battling to avoid relegation and lost them both.
Eckington edged home by four wickets with three balls to spare on Saturday. Critchley hit 67 with five fours and two sixes but he received little support and Chris Bullimore (5-46) completed their dismissal for 138.
Rain reduced the Eckington target to 83 from 21 overs and Cameron Gordon (25 not out) steered them to it.
Chesterfield faced Marehay the following day and another batting failure led to defeat by seven wickets. Sam Fawcett (31) and Alex Hibbert (50) set them off to a solid start but the fall of Critchley for 16 at 81-3 sparked the tumble of wickets as Dave Buckley (4-13) left the home side 130 all out.
Palmer (35), Dan Birch (23 not out) and Hasnain Nasir (22 not out) made short work of a revised target of 129 from 48 overs, completing the win inside 23 despite Adam Woodhouse’s 3-55.
The only plus for Chesterfield was that next-to-bottom Swarkestone also lost, beaten by nine wickets by Sandiacre Town.
Nils Priestley hit 52 but a final tally of 163 was not enough for Swarkestone, Dan Wheeldon taking 3-26, and needing 90 off 20 overs, Luke Thomas (45 not out) saw Sandiacre through with more than three overs to spare.
There was no change at the top as Ockbrook & Borrowash and Ticknall also won to keep Sandiacre third.
Leaders Ockbrook had a ninewicket win over Marehay, who were bowled out for 101 by Gareth Young (4-29) and Jacob Conners (4-13) before Mykylo Bird (28 not out) and Josh Lacey (38 not out) finished the job.
A brilliant 130 from Tom Wood and 84 from Paul Borrington steered Ticknall to 245-4 when the rain arrived against Spondon. Wood struck three sixes and 17 fours and Borrington 11 fours in an opening stand of 193 before Chris Windmill (4-53) finally broke through.
The rain eased off to leave Spondon needing 201 in 26 overs and Jack Gorbert (4-16) left them 74 runs short at 126 all out, skipper Paul Allen making 51.
Denby were denied by the weather, Ben Scott (5-33) having
helped them bowl out Langley Mill for 120. A DLS revision to 103 from 35 overs was well within Denby’s scope but the game was abandoned with the score 27-0 in the fifth.
Alvaston & Boulton look safe following a 62-run DLS win over Elvaston, with an unbeaten 100 from Tom Knight and 59 not out from Ahmed Raza seeing them to 262-3.
Dave Jacobs scored 46 as Elvaston finished on 154-8.