Mac-nificent effort by five-star Oliver!
DUKES NORTH EAST PREMIER LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
NEWCASTLE lie in second place following an excellent win at Chester-le-Street.
They are 47 points behind the runaway leaders South North but there are still plenty of games left for them to catch up.
Newcastle won the toss against the current champions and decided to field first.
Opening bowler Oliver McGee enjoyed instant success, removing both the Cestrians’ openers cheaply.
Then Sean Tindale had the dangerous Andrew Smith caught to leave the home side on 14-3.
It then became worse for Chester as McGee (pictured) struck three more times to finish with an excellent 5-9.
Callum Harding then cleaned up the tail with 3-15, Tindale adding skipper John Coxon to his tally of victims.
Chester finished with a paltry 71 all out, off just 28.5 overs.
Director of Cricket Doug Hudson was delighted with the win and said: “We bowled well and after the game their skipper commented they ‘batted badly’ on a good pitch.
“We are playing good cricket at the moment and need to keep winning to keep the pressure on the leaders.
“We are very confident at present.” In Newcastle’s innings, openers Alasdair Appleby and Ben McGee made mincemeat of the total set and were both not out at the end - Appleby smashing 51 off just 33 balls as Newcastle easily triumphed by 10 wickets in just 16 overs.
South North prevailed at home to South Shields by 10 wickets. The away side are 19 points from safety and only hit 129 all out, Salman Ahmed making 50 and Michael Dunn 27, with Jonathan Whiteman taking 4-38 and Simon Birtwisle 3-17.
In reply, Birtwisle with 80 not out and Marcus North with 48 not out made short work of the total required as South North finished on 132-0 off just 17.2 overs.
Tynemouth were defeated at home by the Durham Cricket Academy, who now move up to third place.
Tynemouth decided to bat first but, with Liam Trevaskis (3-18) removing both openers and then Haidar Shafiq recording 3-29, the home side slumped to 70-5.
Scott Steel chipped in with an excellent 4-23 as the Preston Avenue side managed just 102 all out Tahir Khan top-scoring with just 23.
In reply, the Academy were in a terrible fix at 16-5, Khan (2-22) and Finn Lonnberg (3-22) ripping out the top-order batting.
However, Jamie Dass steadied the ship with 29 and Edward Hurst posted 37 as they teamed up in a 56run partnership to reach 104-8.
Whitburn drew at Hetton Lyons, the Lyons batting first after winning the toss and totalling 239-7 declared, thanks to Dominic Thomson (43) and skipper Jarvis Clay with a brilliant 76 off just 49 balls including 11 fours and a six.
Whitburn made a good start in response, scoring 42 runs for the first wicket, but were then reduced to 135-5 due to Jonathan Malkin taking 3-30.
However, Durham’s Brydon Carse made 47 and then wicket-keeper Ross Carty struck 28 not out to bat out for the draw.
Felling’s safety hopes improved with a winning draw at home to Eppleton.