Hinckley put up a fight on away trip

HINCKLEY visited third placed Newtown Linford on Saturday and although they lost by seven wickets, the game was a lot tighter than the result suggests.

Hinckley won the toss and elected to bat. They lost Crowe in the 1st over caught behind for 0 off the bowling of Woods without a run on the board.

But a 2nd wicket stand of 76 between Patel and Valand put Hinckley in a good position. Patel was bowled by Birchall for 40.

It got even better for Hinckley with Valand and Khan adding 88 for the 3rd wicket before Valand was caught off the bowling of Dale for 68 leaving Hinckley 164 for 3.

Niyalamad joined Khan and they took the score on to 191 at which point Khan was also caught off the bowling of Dale for 65.

At this point Hinckley were 191 for 4 after 37 overs. The last 8 overs produced 44 runs for the loss of another five wickets leaving Hinckley on a respectable 235 for 9 after their 45 overs but the feeling was that they were probably 30 to 40 runs short on what is a high scoring ground.

Birchall took 4 for 61 for Newtown.

Newtown lost their 1st wicket with the score on 24 when Lowe was lbw to Sen for 12. Then a stand of 124 between Agnew and Oliver put Newtown in control although at times the going was slow against Hinckleys tight spin bowling.

Oliver was 2nd to fall bowled by Khan for 42. Agnew was joined by Chapman and they took the score on to 195 when Agnew was caught off the bowling of Khan for an impressive 100. Chapman then took centre stage hitting five sixes to see Newtown home in the 44th over finishing on 236 for 3. Chapman remained 62 not out. Hinckley gained 8 points from this encounter and next week they entertain Oakham.