BULLS SUFFER ON FRIDAY & SATURDAY BUT BOUNCE BACK ON SUNDAY.

5th Jul 2024

BULLS SUFFER ON FRIDAY & SATURDAY BUT BOUNCE BACK ON SUNDAY.

            Fri 28^th June NEPL T20 ¼ final SNCC v Burnopfield (h)

SNCC 163-6 (20o) Rob Peyton 18, Sol Bell 13, Nik Gorantla 22, Chris Hewison 48, Tom Rogers 32: Matthew Oswell 3-15, Finlay McGurk 1-25, Harry Lumsden 1-38, Callum McLean 0-17, Amaan Ulhaq 1-41.

Burnopfield 164-1 (15.5o) Ben McKinney 66, John Oswell 75*, Daniel Hogg 13*: Tom Rogers 1-44, Sean Tindale 0-35, Gavin Paton 0-24, Oli McGee 0-30, Lee Crozier 0-30.

Burnopfield won by 9 wickets.

On a sunny evening, a cautionary tale unfolded as Burnopfield made light work of chasing the Bulls seemingly decent total of 163, winning by 9 wickets after only 15.5 overs as all the bowlers suffered under the onslaught of Ben McKinney & John Oswell who put on 145 for the first wicket. Gavin Paton, deputising for the injured Jonny Wightman, bowled creditably.

Choosing to bat first, the Bulls got to 36 in the 6 over power play before Sol (13) pulled Lumsden to mid wicket. Rob (18) was next to go two overs later as a back foot force off Ulhaq edged to w/k John Oswell, 44-2 in the 8th.

Nik & Hewi were restricted to singles with the occasional boundary but 17 off over 11 saw the total rise & it had reached 88 when Nik (22) edged the first ball of Matthew Oswell's third over, the 13th, to w/k John.

Acceleration as Tom & Hewi took 12,16,10,11,14 to be 157-3 after 18 overs. Two wickets in Matthew Oswell's 4^th as first Hewi (48) fell to a smart relay catch on the mid wicket boundary & 4 balls later Tom (32) was caught at long on. In the 20^th Adam (4) cut to cover & the innings ended at 163, including 23 extras.

After 3 overs of the Burnopfield innings the total was 41-  6, 18, 17 as both McKinney & John Oswell  cut, drove, pulled or launched over mid wicket 6x4 & 1x6. In the 5^th a very hard hit c & b chance to Oli but 16 off the over. After 6 overs the total had risen to 83 & after 8 it was106, John Oswell's 50 coming up in the 8th, 25b, (5x4 5x6), the left handed ex-England U19 captain, McKinney following in over 10 ( 25b 8x4,2x6). 

There was no respite as both batsmen were adept in attacking variations in length but at 145 in the 12th, having just hit Rogers for 6, McKinney (66) drove to long on where Sean took the catch.

An almost sedate end, including an Oli maiden, but the winning runs came from 3 wides in the16th. Wow ! On this night the Bulls were battered in convincing fashion with no real answer. An urgent need to regroup & bounce back.

ANOTHER DIFFICULT DAY AS BULLS CHASE FALLS WELL SHORT AT FELLING.

NEPL Premier Div: Sat 29^th June 2024: SNCC v Felling (a)110o w/l/d

Felling 175ao (47.5 o) Alan Mustard 16, Tyler Easton 27, Alasdair Appleby 58, Joe Carroll 31: Tom Rogers 1-31, Sean Tindale 2-41, Will Alexander 1-12, Oli McGee 5-38, Lee Crozier 1-38.

SNCC 113ao (37.4o) Sol Bell 13, Nik Gorantla 25, Adam Cragg 19: Seb Allison 1-23, Paul Leonard 3-18, Ishaq Khan 1-16, Alasdair Appleby 3-18, Elliot Fox 2-28.

Felling won by 62 runs- 25 points, SNCC 4.

Winning the toss the Bulls chose to field. Rain delayed the start & again after 2 overs. With the game now 54/48, Easton & Mustard faced Rogers & Tindale. Will Alexander replaced the injured Jonny Wightman. A steady start but at 25 in the 7^th Mustard (16), defending, was bowled by Rogers. McGee & Alexander entered the attack in overs 13 &14 & in Alex's third, Easton (27) edged to w/k Rob, 57-2.

Two wickets in two overs for Oli as first Watson (17) was bowled & in the 23^rd Allison (1) lbw, 72-4 at lunch. Lee & Oli bowled overs 23-32 & Appleby attacked from over 27, taking 4x6 & 4x4, using his feet, slog sweeping or driving straight &, with Carroll an experienced partner, the total had risen to 136, when Rogers & Tindale returned. 

In over 37 Appleby (58, 65b, 5x4, 4x6) was bowled by a good one from Sean, a forthright & highly effective innings that altered the momentum of the  game. 4 overs later Leonard (2) was caught by Sol at gully off Sean,153-6. Crozier & McGee returned & 4 wickets fell in 4 overs. Fox (6) was caught by Nik at cover off Lee at 163. Stamper (1) overbalanced & was smartly stumped by Rob off Oli, Hill (0) was lbw & Carroll (31,71b, 2x4 1x6) a sound innings for his team, bowled attacking, both to Oli; 175 all out in the 48^th over, Oli 5-38 in 12.5 overs with 4 maidens.

Birty & Sol faced Allison & Leonard. In the second Birty (1) forward, was adjudged lbw to Leonard, was there an edge ? Sol pulled 2x4 off Allison in the 5^th & Nik hit 4 +2 in the 11^th but in the 12^th Sol (13) drove Leonard hard & the bowler plucked an outstanding, left handed catch out of the air in his follow through! Two overs later Hewi (3) hit Leonard hard to deep square leg but straight to Allison, 38-3.

Fox & Khan entered the attack & in over 20 Nik (25), having hit Fox for 4 in the previous over, was lbw to Khan pushing forward, 54-4. The score rose slowly, until in the 26^th Adam pulled Khan for 6 & in the next took 4,1,3,2 off Fox. Allison returned & Adam (19), in two minds perhaps, chipped to mid wicket, 78-5.

Allison & Appleby (ob) bowled 5 overs for 10 with good line & length & then in the 33^rd Sean (14) was bowled by Appleby. In the same over Tom hit a straight 6.

Sadly, the innings unravelled as Tom (6 ) was also bowled by Appleby, 95-7. Rob (5) having struck a boundary, then advanced to Fox & was bowled, 107-8. Oli (5) chipped to mid on off Appleby & in the 38^th Will (5) was bowled by Fox, who had bowled well up the hill. 113 all out, the last 5 wickets going down for 18 runs in 5.2 overs with 16 overs remaining & the 1930 cut off looming.

A disappointing end, the Bulls now in 7^th place, work to do!

BULLS BOUNCE BACK WITH BANKS SALVER 100 WIN AT HETTON LYONS.

        Sun 30^th June 2024: NEPL 1^st X1 Banks Salver 100 Group H 

Hetton Lyons 120-7 (100b) D Walker 10, M Birbeck 13, J Clay 12, E Dixon 13 C Ralston 10*, C Grimwood 18*: Sean Tindale 1-39, Nathan Gough 0-21, Simon Birtwisle 4-11, Oli McGee 0-29, George Gray 2-16.

SNCC 123-7 (99b) Chris Hewison 24, Oli McGee 40, Adam Cragg 18*, Simon Birtwisle 15:  C Ralston 1-24, S Udeshi 1-20, C Grimwood 2-22, T Moulder 0-33, G Adey 3-20.

SNCC won by 3 wickets, go to ¼ final.

Ashington had conceded so only one match took place. After 3 defeats this was a timely change of fortune. The Lyons won the toss & chose to bat. 4 changes for the Bulls saw Nathan Gough, George Gray, Ben Sidney- Wilmot (w/k) & Jan Ozmen replace Alexander, Gorantla, Peyton & Crozier.

Martin & Hedley faced Tindale & Gough, 20 x 5 ball overs ahead. At 14 in the second set of 5 of Sean's, Adam Cragg superbly caught Martin (8) at cover off Sean, diving to his left. At 20, in Birty's first set, Hedley (4) was stumped by Ben Sid as he charged & missed, 2 down.

George entered the attack in over 7 & in his second set, persuaded Walker (10) to drive, but the outside edge swirled towards short third man where Tom took the catch, 31-3. George bowling very well, 6 off 10 balls & a wicket.

A partnership of 31 between Birbeck & Clay but then in the 12^th Birbeck (13) hit Birty to deep mid wicket where Jan took a very good catch on the boundary. One run later Clay (12), on the crease, was lbw to Birty, 63-5.

At 77 in the 16^th Moulder (6) advanced to Birty & was bowled, 6 down. 28 runs came from the last 3 sets but in over 19 Dixon (13) was lbw to George. Sean's last suffered as Grimwood (18*) & Ralston (9*) attacked, closing at 120-7, 22 wides in the total. Birty 4-11 & George 2-16 the pick.

Hewison & Rogers faced Ralston (rm) & Udeshi (brisk off spin). 22-1 in the 3^rd as Tom (10), having hit a straight, 6 was caught at mid off, Ralston the bowler. 39 after 5 sets & a handy partnership of 46, including Oli's 14 off Moulder's first, the 7th, when Hewi (24,20b, 3x4) hit in the air to cover off Adey, 72-2 off 9.

Oli continued to show attacking intent down the ground & over mid wicket but it was Sean (5) who was bowled by Udeshi at 79 in the 11th. Oli's vital innings (40, 23b, 4x4,3x6) ended at 84 when he drove Adey to cover, 4 down in the 12^th but up with the rate.

Birty & Adam pushed on 5,4,2,6 & then in set 17 Grimwood took two in two as Birty (15) found mid wicket & Sol (0) was bowled first ball,105-6. Moulder's last set went for 10 leaving 3 to win. Nathan (6) was bowled by Adey attacking the first ball. Jan hit ball 3 for a single to cover & Adam (19*) steered to third man for the winning boundary with one ball remaining.

A fast paced game in which Oli's attacking intent made the win possible. All 4 deputies performed well & George's bowling took the eye. Birty's golden arm in evidence again.

Onward to the Salver ¼ final: SNCC v Eppleton (a) Fri 19^th July, 1800, 100 balls. We hope to see you there.

Duncan.