RAIN THWARTS BULLS & ASHINGTON: THE HILL GO TOP BY A POINT

21st Aug 2022

                   NEPL Division 2; Sat 20th August 2022; SNCC v Ashington (h)

Ashington 203 all out (39.3o) Callum Storey 31, Sam Alderson 24, Matthew Storey 20, Matthew Potts 41, Greg Williams 27: Allan Davidson 2-56, Ben Hobbs 3-27, Sadiq Khan 0-37, Sree Kanakala 2-48, Ru Fletcher 2-36.

SNCC did not bat, match abandoned at 1645, outfield too wet. SNCC 9 points, Ashington 9.

A frustrating afternoon for all as heavy & persistent rain made the outfield too wet to continue & the match was abandoned at 1645. The Bulls remain 3rd, Ashington 4th but Benwell Hill won to take top spot from Tynemouth by one point, SN 13 adrift with three games to go.

Ashington were invited to bat, Levison & Robinson faced the seam of Davidson & Hobbs. Only 6 scoring shots in 5 overs, albeit one disappeared into Moor Road North, 18-0.

At 26 in the 8th Robinson (17) edged Hobbs to w/k Alex Weetman, a wicket maiden for Ben. Both had bowled well, Davidson exploring Levison's inside edge on a number of occasions, the ball squirting to fine leg. But the tempo increased such that the score had reached 50 in the 10th after 6x4 in 10 balls, when Turnbull (12) tried to drive but hoisted high towards the bowler, whereupon w/k Alex raced the full length of the pitch to take the skied catch beyond the bowler's stumps!

From the first ball of the next over Allan had Alex Storey (0) lbw & at 54 Levison (19) was bowled by Ben via a pad. Both bowlers had bowled well & after a flurry of boundaries got their rewards. Ben, a very tidy 3-27 off 6 overs with one maiden.

Callum Storey & Sam Alderson consolidated against the all leg spin attack of Sadiq & Sree who bowled 18 overs in tandem. Sadiq was the more economical, Sree took the wickets as first Storey (31) was bowled at 97 in the 26th & Alderson (24) bowled in the 30th, 120-6.

Enter left handed Matthew Potts to join Matthew Storey & change the momentum of the innings. 9 x 4 in his 41 off only 26 balls driven straight, through wide mid on or cover as first Ru suffered. Allan persuaded M Storey (20) to edge behind from the first ball of a new spell, 157-7 in the 35th, but the rest of the over went for 13.

Potts's enterprising adventures concluded in bizarre fashion. Williams steered Ru to third man where Allan threw in, Wiliams thought there was a 2nd but Potts had too little time to respond as the ball was transferred via Alex to Ru, who completed the run out at the non striker's end, 175-8.

Williams (27, 19b, 3x4) continued to be positive but at 203 in the 40th was yorked by Ru, 203-9, & two balls later Rutherford (0) offered a low caught & bowled chance which Ru took, diving forward, 203 all out in the 40th.

The rain came again at tea, no break in the clouds was discernible & became heavier before slackening but the outfield was so dry the water lay on the surface. After several inspections, the Captains, both of whom wanted to play, accepted there was no prospect of getting 25 overs in the second innings to constitute a game & the abandonment was agreed at c 1645.

Only 4 wides, after 41 last Sat, mostly the bowling showed good discipline, perhaps too many 4 balls, (27 +2x6) but a fast outfield was unforgiving, the fielding was generally good, two boundary blemishes apart, Alex neat & tidy with three, safe w/k catches. A good contest in prospect, thwarted by the weather.

Three games to go for the Bulls, Sat 27th August v leaders Benwell Hill (h), Sat 3rd Sept v Sunderland (h), Sat 10th Sept v Hetton Lyons (a), all 50/50, win/lose orange ball coloured kit. Big game next Sat, do come along to support the Bulls in a must win fixture. We must continue!

Duncan.