Derbyshire Premier League match reports - 5th May

Denby 209-8 drew with Alvaston & Boulton 138-9

Denby narrowly failed to record their first win of the season. They won the toss and batted first. Stuart Poplar made 64 and Steven Lee 37. For A & B Carl Beetge took 4-50, but their batsmen struggled, with Anthony Woolley (40) the only one to exceed 30. Adam Barratt, their new wicketkeeper held the fort with 27 not out and the ninth wicket fell when skipper Darren Pooley was out off the very last ball.

Dunstall 277-5 drew with Quarndon 160-9

Dunstall produced the biggest score of the day with some exciting batting from Phil Simmons (101), Carl Eyden (73) and James Ede (60). They had Quarndon at their mercy but failed to break the last wicket. Paul Shaw took 4-34 for Quarndon.

Ilkeston Rutland 91 beat Sawley & LE Park 86 by 5 runs

This was a desperately close game. The pitch favoured the bowlers on both sides, with the ball moving off the seam and sometimes keeping low. Rutland were indebted to their skipper, Martin Brandrick, who defied Sawley for 2 hours and 7 minutes in making a crucial 32. Neil Smith, the Sawley skipper bowled with venom, taking 5-25 as Rutland were dismissed in 37 overs. Alas! Sawley found that they had offended the League rule concerning over rates and for the second day running they were fined 4 points.

When they batted they had a disastrous start and soon found themselves at 24 with 6 wickets down. They edged their way ro 59 when the 8th wicket fell. Then there was hope with a stand between Rashid Shafayet and Neil Smith, but when they had added 24 runs Rashid was out with the score at 83. Three runs later Smith fell to Rutland's 18 year old bowler Carl Doar who returned the remarkable figures of 8-27.He had used the pitch, but he had also bowled straight and to a consistent length. Hard luck on Sawley who had gained only one point from the game.

Langley Mill 116 lost to Ockbrook 118-6 by 4 wickets

Langley Mill's batting let them down. They were dismissed in 45.5 overs and if they had used up the full 55 overs this could have been a very close match. Damien Collard made 29 and Simon Lacey was 29 not out.and best bowling for Ockbrook came from Brian Gladwin (3-12) and Ian Darlington (3-23). Ockbrook were made to work for their runs with the top score coming from Dave Wood (28) and they lost six wickets before reaching their target in 38.4 overs.

Sandiacre Town 272-5 beat Chesterfield 169 by 103 runs

Sandiacre's big score included 67 not out from Rob Attwood and 50 from Naeem Akhtar, with David Adams taking 3-62.. Chesterfield's Sri Lankan player Prince Bradman Eridiweera batted well to make 75, but there was little support and they were all out well short of their target. For Sandiacre John Trueman took 3-56 and Naeem Akhter 4-29.

Wirksworth 165-8 lost to Clifton 166-2 by 8 wickets

Wirksworth struggled to reach what turned out to be a moderate score and Clifton hit off the runs in 31 overs. Top scorers for Wirksworth were Richard Hosein (42) and David Greatorex (31)., and for Clifton Liaqat Ali took 3-18 and Ant Botha 3-53. The Clifton innings was dominated by Mohammed Masood who was 117 not out.