Ockbrook make it two in two as Denby stall
OCKBROOK & Borrowash made it two wins from their opeing two matches in the Beechwood Mazda Derbyshire Premier Division, celebrating an 18-run victory over Denby at Victoria Avenue.
Home skipper Gareth Young opted to bat first after winning the toss but Ben Scott (2-37) and James Parkin (2-41) claimed early wickets and Ockbrook were struggling on 49-3, with a spritely Mykylo Bird (28) one of the victims.
Arend Gagiano (30) and Jacob Conners (25) did their best to improve matters but wickets for Peter Burgoyne (3-23) and Jack Richardson (2-11) left Denby in control at the interval, with Ockbrook dismissed for a very modest 166.
At 107-3 in reply, Denby were well set with Burgoyne (53) and Jake Smith (25) combining nicely but Derbyshire’s Dustin Melton (5-25) and Josh Lacey (2-34) struck for the hosts and the visitors fell short on 148, the last seven wickets producing only 41 runs.
After their narrow defeat against Ockbrook on the opening weekend, Spondon hit back to record a comfortable six-wicket win over Alvaston & Boulton at the Raygar Arena.
Paul Allen (2-28), Chris Windmill (2-41) and South African Justin Watson (4-35) reduced A&B to a very shaky 52-5, although the home side recovered some of the lost ground through Hamidullah Qadri (83) and Ahmed Raza (44), who added 72 for the sixth wicket.
But a final total of 194-9 proved to be far from enough to trouble Spondon, with Joe Ashdown (101) opening in fine style for the visitors.
He cracked a six and 17 fours before Josh Brear (27 not out) steered his side home with almost twenty overs to spare.
Sandiacre Town claimed a hardfought win over Marehay at The Maryfield.
Derbyshire’s Michael Cohen (2-31) kept the Sandiacre batsmen honest but runs from Scott McNeill (59) helped his side to recover from 65-2.
Connor Marshall (36) and Dave Torr (38 not out) combined well in mid-innings and a final flurry from skipper Bill Anderson (24 not out) left the reigning champins with a total of 243-7 to defend.
In reply, Marehay never really recovered from slipping to 48-3, although Dan Birch (33) and Lewis Palmer (36) did their best to buck the trend.
New Zealander Caleb Jasmat (33) and Harry Wanford (25 not out) kept their side in with a shout but Ryan McFadyean (3-41) and Marshall (2-45) prevailed and Marehay fell short on 219-9.
Ben Hutchinson (5-13), Tommy Sturgess (3-9) and Alex Hughes (2-23) made short work of the Eckington line-up as Swarkestone crusied to an easy 10 wicket win at Barrow Turn.
At 1-4 a humiliation was on the cards but Cameron Gordon (22) and Stephen Ludlam (10 not out) stepped up to spare Eckington’s blushes.
The misery ended in the 22nd over with the scoreboard showing 45 and it took Swarkestone openers Andre Bradford (14 not out) and Hughes (25 not out) only 5.3 overs to wrap up the win.
Alrewas celebrated their first win in the Premier Division, after promotion last season, at the expense of Alfreton, who have also climbed up to the top tier.
They fell well short of Alrewas’ mammoth total of 318-5.
James Burton (39) and Gareth Woolley (75) opened with an 84-run stand and Nick Kwant (61) and Stephen Cole (55 not out) kept up the momentum, the latter crashing 10 fours from only 37 deliveries.
Tom Chapman increased the torment with a 15-ball innings of 30 and Alfreton were left with a mountain to climb in reply.
The visitors were never at the races after tea and they crashed to a disappointing 139 all out in 34.3 overs. Jonathan Woolley (28) and Muhammad Zaroob (24) fared better than most but Billy Hodgkinson (5-38) was on hand to deliver an easy victory.
Ticknall suffered a nine-wicket defeat as Langley Mill Utd continued their winning start in the Premier, getting across the line with almost half of their available overs still to be bowled.
Chasing a stiff 237 for victory, Langley Mill openers George Brandrick (72 not out) and Danny Hanson (86) raced to an opening stand of 146 in only 17 overs.
Hanson (five sixes and 12 fours) dominated but Brandrick (one six, 13 fours) fully played his part and remained unbeaten at the close.
The torture was not over for Ticknall, Samit Patel (55 not out) arriving on the scene to blast a 33-ball unbeaten half-century which featured a six and eleven fours.
Earlier in the day Rahib Ali (79) and Mehmoon Tariq (52) had featured strongly but Rafay Ahmed (3-52) and Jay Holmes (2-32) countered and a final tally of 236-8 proved wholly inadequate.