League leaders Greenfields cut Burbage down to size

BURBAGE CC were edged out in a see-saw LRCL Division Four West clash at top-of-thetable Loughborough Greenfields on Saturday.

This week, the villagers welcome Ibstock Town to Hinckley Road and will hope to arrest the form the which has seen them lose their last two league matches.

The clash at Greenfields, however, ended up as a real classic. After being asked to bat first by the hosts, Burbage got off to a relatively solid start, with Joe Broadbent looking in good touch before he was out for 22. Wickets started to tumble though and Burbage soon found themselves in trouble at 50-5. A decent partnership between Craig Simpkin (20) and Andrew Biffin (19) helped the visitors get back on track somewhat but when they were bowled out for 102 it always looked some runs short of a challenging target.

This seemed to be the case when Greenfields found themselves 26-0 after two overs but wickets at regular intervals kept things interesting.

Opening bowler Tom Payne stuck to his task well and finished with 5-45 from his 12 overs, including two wickets in two balls. Simpkin then came into the attack and continued his fine game by taking 2-7 from three overs as Greenfields looked like they would capitulate with the winning post in sight as they slumped to 94-8. However, it was not to be for a spirited Burbage side as the league-leaders edged to victory with two wickets to spare.

Burbage second team enjoyed a 46-run win over visiting Loughborough Outwoods II.

Batting first, Burbage made 176-8 from their 45 overs, Jim Bostock top-scoring with 42 and good contributions from Ian Newham (26) and John Timson (25) helping the hosts to a more-than-competitive score. In reply, Outwoods were always behind the game and Burbage bowled them out for just 130 to claim a comprehensive win to climb the Division Seven West table.