EPPLETON FALL JUST SHORT
ENTERTAINING CONTEST ENDS IN DRAW AFTER TIGHT FINISH
Dukes ECB NEPL Premier League
Eppleton had an entertaining draw with champions Chester-le-Street at Church Road in the Premier Division.
Chester were asked to bat first and made 184-9 from 43 of their allocated 44 overs.
Thanks to 45 from Adam Hickey and an unbeaten 32 from skipper John Coxon, the score was a healthy one and allowed an early declaration of one over.
Joseph Coyne starred with the ball taking 4-34 and Jandre Erasmus took 3-45.
When the home side batted, they made a good effort to get the runs, with some steady batting from Luke Henderson (23) and Marcus Brown (28).
Erasmus made 53 with the bat, but they fell just six runs short of victory on 1798 mainly thanks to Hickey’s 3-45 and two wickets each for Andrew Bell and Quinten Hughes.
Hetton Lyons travelled to second-placed Newcastle and were heavily beaten by 84 runs, to lose for only the third time this season.
The home side batted first and amassed 233-6 off 30.1 overs, thanks to 35 from opener Alasdair Appleby and 64 from Cameron Steel, the pair putting on 77 for the first wicket.
Joshua Phillipe (46) and skipper Jacques Do Toit (41) then smashed it around the park, to allow the early declaration.
Lyons were then in trouble at 14-2, before Jonathan Malkin made 56 and Josh Coughlin 37, but it was not enough, as Callum Harding with 4-16 dented their hopes of a draw, the innings ending on 149 all out.
Durham Cricket Academy made the trip to Teesside, to play Stockton and were asked to bat first.
They made 173-9 against some excellent and accurate bowling, especially Brett Roberts (4-25) and Ryan Wallace (4-30), with skipper Christopher McBride scoring 56 and Liam Trevaskis 43, putting on 89 runs together, for the fourth wicket, to make a decent score.
In reply, the Teessiders scored 138-9, while hanging on for the draw, with Wallace scoring 55 and Matthew Potts returning 3-11 as the pick of the bowling.
League leaders South North had a dramatic win at Whitburn by just two runs.
The home side must have thought they had won the game, when they bowled the visitors out for just 75 runs.
Craig Smith took 5-28 and Ian Elliot 5-15 as they tore the batting order apart, with only Simon Birtwisle (18), Rob Peyton (15) and Jonathan Wightman 14, made double figures.
However, at 0-2, with Stephen Humble (a magnificent 6-29) and Jonathan Wightman (3-28), striking early, the home side were on the back foot.
Agonisingly, they fell three runs short of victory, with the last pair of Smith and Mark Elliott putting on 14 for the last wicket.
It looked as though they would win, but Birtwisle had Elliott trapped in front for 12, in taking the last wicket.
Benwell Hill are now third, with a 45-run win at struggling South Shields.
The Hill batted first and only made 97, with skipper Kyle Coetzer scoring 39 off just 16 balls, including six fours and two sixes, with Matthew Muchall taking a brilliant 7-52, off 11.4 overs.
In reply, Michael Dunn scored 30, but Haseeb Azam with an excellent 5-13, was too good and Shields could only manage 52 all out.
At the bottom, Felling are now 16 points behind South Shields after they lost heavily at home to Tynemouth, by seven wickets, who leap away for the relegation area, with the win.
The home side managed only 76, with Gary Scott claiming 38 of those runs. David Hymers was the pick of the bowling with 4-32.
In reply, Tynemouth opener Sam Dinning guided his team home with 33 not out, in a score of 80-3.