Doyle steers Shepshed home with last ball four
SHEPSHED 1st XI went to play bottom of the table Ratby and it ended up being a close affair but they claimed victory to remain in the promotion chase.
Ratby batted first and scored 179 with Sam Smith taking 4 for 30 and Harry Sloan 2 for 37 backed up by a good display of bowling by all the Shepshed bowlers along with some excellent fielding and at tea were upbeat they would knock off the 179 needed to win the match.
But a shock was in store when Shepshed batted as they were reeling on 6 for 2 so had to dig in and Andrew Gibson was the man to do that scoring 25 along with Alec Williams 20 steadying the ship but when Williams got out in came Callum Doyle to take centre stage and started to set about the Ratby bowling.
Ratby never gave up and bowled a good line and length but Doyle kept chipping away to keep the score ticking over but with wickets starting to tumble and overs running out this game was definitely in the balance and it was to close to call and eventually it all came down to the last ball of the game.
Shepshed needed one run to win and Callum Doyle needing four runs for his 100 and with Doyle on strike he decided to go for it with a reverse ramp sending the ball to the boundary to secure the win and his personal milestone of 100 not out Shepshed finishing on 182 for 6.
A good comeback by Shepshed after last weeks defeat but even though it was a nervy affair they came through to take the points and remain in second place only seven points behind leaders Hinckley Town.
Shepshed 2nd XI wasted no time in winning their clash against Twycross 1st XI bowling them out for just 116 with Mark Bonam taking 3 for 15 Michael Morley 3 for 19 and Chris Burton 2 for 30 and then Shepshed set about the Twycross bowling with Calum Pratt scoring 46 but it was Chris Gibson 27 not out and Elliot Morley 24 not out that saw Shepshed home and after last weeks game to forget this was the ideal way to bounce back with a good all round team performance.
Shepshed 3rd XI played host to City Cricketers 1st XI and decided to bat and reached 157 for 8 with Mick Gibson top scoring with 43 and with Corey Chantrill 26 and Seb Bone 22 backing Gibson up with some wonderful shots the Shepshed batsman battled and all chipped in with a score against a decent City Cricketers bowling attack.
This score was always going to be difficult to defend against a very powerful City Cricketers batting lineup but Shepshed bowled really well and took seven of the City Cricketers wickets with Andy Moore 3 for 6 and the remaining bowlers taking a wicket a piece City Cricketers finishing on 160 for 7.
Shepshed came out of this game with a superb 10 points against a team that could easily play at an higher level.