Survival fight dealt major blow

HINCKLEY Town’s fight for survival suffered a major blow at the weekend after losing to Leicester Ivanhoe by two wickets.

In a dramatic match, Hinckley finished on 280-10 and Leicester edged it with the final ball of their innings to scoop 283-8.

The result leaves Hinckley 22 points from safety with five games to play.

On Saturday, Leicester won the toss and chose to field first.

Hinckley got off to a good start, losing their first wicket with the score on 83 when Michael Burgess was bowled by Josh Blunt for 36.

Ben Coddington joined captain Craig Crowe and they took the score onto 144-2 in the 27th over, before Crowe was caught by Harry Swindells from the bowling of Blunt for 77.

Hinckley had reached an impressive 240-4 after 44 overs.

But Coddington was run out for 54, quickly followed by Carl Crowe for 50.

Hinckley then crumbled and lost their remaining five wickets for 19 runs, finishing with a competitive score of 280.

Blunt took four wickets for 43 and Imran Khan took three for 34 runs for Leicester.

In reply, Ivanhoe got off to a quick start and scored 85 before losing both opening batsmen Sam Evans (45) and Eben Kurtz (32).

But a third wicket stand of 132 between James Kirkham and Stephen Punchard swung the game in Leicester’s favour.

Kirkham was caught by Burgess of the bowling of Sukhvir Singh for 49 to take the score onto 217-3.

Punchard was then LBW bowled by Janak Valand for 67 with the score on 226-4 in the 42nd over.

But then Leicester slipped to 274-7 in the 49th over.

The hosts needed seven runs to scoop victory in their last over and tensions were high for both sides.

Carl Crowe took a wicket in his first ball, reducing Leicester to 274-8.

But in the final bowl of the game, Leicester smashed the ball into the boundary to earn four points and seal victory.

Josh Blunt finished not out for nine and Lee Hunt ended with four not out.

Valand took three wickets for 42 runs for Hinckley.

The crushing defeat earned Leicester 25 points, while Hinckley gained nine.

Next week Hinckley host third-placed Lutterworth, the match starting at 1pm.