OLLY ALEXANDER CENTURY POWERS ACADEMY TO THRILLING WIN AT SACRISTON. Sun 9 Aug 2026, NEPL Sunday Div 1: SNCC v Sacriston (a) 40/40.

9th Aug 2026

Sacriston 254-7 (40o) Sam Hubber 98, Lucas Waggott 20, Callum Dods 40, Declan Buchanan 65: Aryan Kalluri 0-41, Freddie Mitten 0-19, George Gray 0-42, Varun Gudipati 2-49, Elliott Mee 3-46, Archit Upadhye 0-26, Arjun Godse 0-8, Arun Joseph 0-13.

SNCC 258-4 (38.3o) George Gray 64, Olly Alexander 103*, Will Carr 39, Varun Gudipati 21*: Freddie Lawler 0-45, Aston Straker 1-40, Ben Hubber 1-42, Riley Fletcher 0-37, Alfie Hart 1-46, Declan Buchanan 0-37.

SNCC won by 6 wickets- 23 points, Sacriston 12.

A warm day, a flat wicket, a short boundary to the Club house side, a fast, & at times bumpy, outfield, Sacriston chose to bat. Sam Hubber & Lucas Waggott faced the seam of Aryan Kalluri & Freddie Mitten. Hubber stroked 8x4 in the first 10 overs, Waggott 5x4 as  the total reached 56 without loss.

Freddie an economical spell conceded only 19 in his 5 overs, Aryan less accurate conceded 32 in 6. Change bowlers George & Varun bowled overs 11-19 & with his second delivery Varun had Waggott (20) well caught by Olly at extra cover, low to his left, 62-1.

Dodds swung towards the short boundary with success & the total had risen to 113-1 after 19 overs. Elliott Mee (lb) & Archit Upadhye (lb) began spells in the 20th & 21^st overs & it was Elliott in the 22^nd who tempted Dodds (40, 36b 6x4 1x6) to play a big shot only to be well caught by Varun at deep mid wicket, 130-2.

Archit found a good length elusive as the left handed Hubber accelerated beyond 50*. Buchanan was equally positive & the total had risen to 187 after 30 overs as Varun & George returned.

Overs from Arjun & Arun were punished & the scoring rate continued at 6/7s reaching 235 after 36 overs. Then at 236 in the 37th over, Buchanan (65, 47b 6x4 3x6) edged a drive off Varun to w/k Will Carr who took the catch.

Halliday (5) was bowled by Elliott in the next over & in the 40^th Sam Hubber (98,118b, 15x4) swung him to deep mid wicket in search of his 100 but found George who took the catch. ending a fluent innings of clean driving, straight & through cover. Two run outs followed in quick succession courtesy of Olly & Elliott & the innings closed at 254-7.

8 bowlers used, three wickets for Elliott, 2 for Varun & a tight spell from Freddie. The fielding had not wilted although chances were not all taken.

In reply Aryan Kalluri & George Gray faced the seam of Lawler & Straker. A fast start from George, 5x4, 1x6 in the first 3 overs, 33 without loss. At 40 Aryan (3) drove Straker to point, Olly Alexander entered at three.

62-1 after 10 overs then change bowlers B Hubber & later Fletcher began spells. At 83 in the 15^th George (64, 46b 10x4 2x6) a vibrant innings, may have been unlucky to be adjudged lbw to B Hubber. Will Carr entered at 4, Olly 13*.

There followed an exhilarating partnership of 108 between Olly & Will which lasted until the 30th over. Running well, driving down the ground fluently, pulling to leg, cutting past point, Olly reached 50* in the 23rd with the total at 140-2 as B Hubber, Fletcher, Hart & Buchanan toiled.

Then at 191 in the 30^th Will (39, 35b, 6x4) was run out as a direct hit from backward point thwarted the quick single Olly 73*. Hart & Buchanan continued then in over 33, Ben Lee (7) after a glorious drive over extra cover, drove again but found mid on off Hart, 204-4.

Olly & Varun then saw this exhilarating chase successfully home with a partnership of 54* in 5.3 overs. The returning Straker conceded 11, Lawler 6 & Hubber 10 in the 39^th over as Olly reached 103* with a 6 to mid wicket.

Olly 103*(113b 15x4 1x6) a second century in 5 days, composed, chanceless shots all around the wicket, Varun 21* (17b 3x4) the prefect partner to close out the win.

A thrilling win for the all junior Academy, George the eldest at 19 against an older team from Sacriston.

The postponed match  against Benwell Hill is yet to be arranged. The Academy remain in second  place in Sunday Division 1 behind leaders Chester-le-Street.

Duncan.