Derbyshire Premier League match reports - 03/08/02

Alvaston & Boulton 132 beat Sandiacre Town 109 by 25 runs

Low scores in this match but there was no shortage of excitement. The pitch and ground were in good condition considering the recent heavy rain, but it was inevitable that there should be some movement in the pitch for the seam bowlers.

A & B batted first and soon found themselves in difficulty, but the innings of 26 by Gareth Davis proved to be important, and added to this a fluent 23 from Darren Pooley late in the game meant that A & B went in with a reasonable total, but they had yielded six extra overs to Sandiacre. For Sandiacre Naeem Akhtar was the most successful of the bowlers, taking 5-31.

Sandiacre were stunned when they found themselves five wickets down for 23. John Trueman stood firm and seemed to have stemmed the collapse when he was joined by Jake Needham, but Carl Beetge, the tall South African, and Anthony Woolley were fired up after their early success and they maintained the pressure. Trueman was out for 20 and wickets continued to tumble and the last man was out in 45.5 overs. It was a bitter blow to Sandiacre, but a rare encouragement to A&B as they fight their way out of the relegation zone.

Ockbrook 227-4 beat Denby 187 by 40 runs.

Ockbrook set up a very challenging score as they batted first. Trevor Smith made 52 and Johnny Owen 66, and Dave Hallack played the captain’s role in carrying his bat for 92 not out. Denby are no strangers to chasing big totals, but they were shaken when they lost three early wickets. Hope was restored by Steve Bullock (77) and Ross Perry-Taylor (40) who kept up with the clock, but when Bullock was caught in the deep the momentum was lost. Trevor Smith took 3-31 and Brian Gladwin 4-58. This win gave Ockbrook 27 points and enabled them to climb clear of Sandiacre at the top.

Clifton 141 lost to Dunstall 143-1 by 9 wickets

After last week’s unexpected defeat Dunstall bounced back with a crushing win at the expense of Clifton, and a reminder that they are still in the title chase. Clifton were dismissed in 50.3 overs despite a late rally by Ant Botha (37) and Li Ali (38). Dunstall’s spinner Martin Clewley was the pick of Dunstall’s bowlers, takin 4-12. They knocked off the runs in 20 overs, with Adrian Ball 50 not out.

Chesterfield 138 lost to Ilkeston Rutland 143-5 by 5 wickets

Paul Burdett made 52, but Chesterfield’s batting was disappointing against Ilkeston’s accurate trio of Ian Banks (4-41), Martin Brandrick (3-32) and Mark Baker (3-17. Ilkeston’s star batsman, David Smit, stole the show with a powerful 82 not out, and they were home with something to spare. Chesterfield’s skipper, David Adams, never gave up, taking four of the five wickets to fall for 40 runs.

Langley Mill 202-6 beat Wirksworth 112 by 90 runs

It was another bad day for Wirksworth, and a good day for Langley Mill’s Adrian Marsh who loves accumulating runs. He was 128 not out in the Millers’ total. Wirksworth were bundled out in 38.3 overs by Zahir Iqbal (5-47) and Simon Lacey (3-16), with Adnan Naeem their top scorer with 31.

Quarndon 228 v Sawley 128-7 No Result

This game was badly affected by a very heavy shower which changed the nature of the pitch. Before it came Gary Myers (116) and Nathan Dumelow (35) had promised a very big total but conditions suddenly favoured the bowlers. Robin Williamson added 31, but Ahmed Gondal (6-70) and Neil Smith (4-48) closed the innings down in the 39th over. The delay had made it into a time match and only 35 overs were possible in the Sawley innings, during which time Gondal took his score to 44 not out. Sawley were well short of their target when stumps were drawn, with three wickets in hand. For Quarndon Mark Tournier took 3-28.