BULLS MAINTAIN MOMENTUM WITH 5 WICKET WIN AT WASHINGTON

26th Jul 2022

                  NEPL Division 2 Sat 23rd July 2022, SNCC v Washington (a)

Washington 80ao (33.4o) Nial Cutter 12, Ajay Rai 13, Daniel Easton 10, Chris Watson 10, Dominic Hughes 9: Allan Davidson 1-23, Gavin Paton 4-17, Alan Roskilly 1-10, Sadiq Khan 1-15, Ru Fletcher 3-5.

SNCC 83-5 (19.1o) Nick Tomlinson 21, Alex Weetman 26, Jacob McCord 10*: Andy Wilkie 1-15, Chris Watson 2-16, Graeme Race 0-17, Colin Myers 1-15, Daniel Easton 1-10.

SNCC won by 5 wickets - 22 points, Washington 2.

Tough for the home team to lose their groundsman but on a green, usually slow & low wicket, & after the nadir of 2021, SN chose to field. Cutter & Lander faced Davidson & Paton. 33.4 overs later they had succumbed to 80 all out, 7 catches, 3 lbw's as the wicket proved unpredictable, judging the bounce & pace difficult & playing across the line fatal. The Bulls themselves lost 5 wickets chasing the total but got there in 19.1 overs.

Gavin Paton 12-7-17-4 was the pick of the SN attack. After 2 boundaries in the first over from Allan, Lander was c & b by Gavin in the 2nd, a maiden followed. The score had reached 29 when Cutter (12) was lbw to Paton. At 34 Sproates (3) was caught by Jacob at mid on off Allan Davidson. At 39 Smith (5) was caught by Jacob in the same position & at the same score Hughes (9) was caught by Allan off Alan Roskilly, 39-5.

At 42 Race (2) was again caught by Jacob at mid on off Gavin, 3 catches for Jacob exorcising the memory of the previous evening. 50 up in 23.3 overs but a stand of 20 ended at 62 when Rai (13) was lbw to Ru. At 75 D Easton (10) was also lbw to Ru & at 78 Watson(10) was caught by Alan off Ru. Myers (4) was caught by Gavin off Sadiq's leg spin, 80 all out.

Khan & Charnley faced Watson & Wilkie. Sadiq (7) was caught by Hughes off Watson & Charnley (5) by Myers off Wilkie, 13-2 in the 5th. This became 24-3 in the 8th as Ewart (0) was caught by D Easton off Watson.

There followed a carefully constructed, match defining partnership of 45 between Nick Tomlinson 21 (36b, 2x4) & Alex Weetman 26 (28b, 5x4) which ended at 69 when first Alex was caught by Sproates off Myers in the 17th & Nick lbw to Easton in the 18th. Jacob 10* hit 4,4,2 in the 19th & Ru 4*, the winning boundary from the first ball of the 20th over.

The record low score of 2021, at the same venue, effectively banished, the Bulls remain in 3rd place in Division 2 just 26 points behind leaders Tynemouth, whom they meet at home on Sat 30th July. All to play for, availability crucial, resolve not in doubt.

T20 finals day is on Sunday 14th August at a venue to be determined, SN Newcastle, Hetton Lyons & Sacriston are the semi finalists..... onward !

Duncan