April Century Club Winners
24th April 2024
Much changed 2nd XI win at Shotley in Banks
9th May 2019
Sunday saw the 2’s start their 2019 Banks Bowl campaign as they took a much-changed side to newcomers Shotley Bridge. Faced with a full-strength side on a small ground, Ruaidhri Fletcher kept up his 100% success arte at the toss and chose to bowl first. The hosts got off to a solid if circumspect start in the powerplay, slowed down by the loss of David Golightly (11) who carved Varley to point, and Mellons (9), undone by a direct hit from Fletcher at extra cover. Shotley lost wickets at regular intervals thanks to tight bowling from the Tom Seymour (2-11) and Jonnie Bell (4-33), and wickets for Varley and Weetman (don’t ask) led to them being bowled out for 162 just inside their allotted 40 overs.
The South North chase got off to a poor start, with Seymour (8) and the in-form Weetman (4) falling early to Matthew Golightly (2-48) to leave the score at 15-2. Inti Fazal and James Ruddick rebuilt before the latter chopped on for 17 and Fazal was trapped in front for 40, and when Ben Sidney-Wilmot suffered the same fate without troubling the scorers, the Bulls were struggling at 88-5 still 75 runs short of their target. Guy Johnson joined his skipper Fletcher at the crease and the pair steadied the ship well as they moved towards the required target. The strike rotated well and free hits were cashed in on by Johnson in particular, and in the end they reached the target of §63 with over 4 overs remaining – Fletcher making a patient 45* and Johnson a more entertaining 35*.
The 2ndXI will face Felling at home in the next round of the Banks Bowl on Sunday 26th May.