Cricket roundup: week ending August 26

CCA Division 1A

FORDHAM II have an excellent opportunity to gain promotion to the county senior league after a six-wicket win over St Ives II.

Experienced senior league batsmen Darren Fordham held the innings together for St Ives batting first, despite losing a succession of partners.

A Jack Peters Yorker claimed the first wicket of the day with less than 10 runs on the board and Sean Brighty stuck not long after to remove Fordham, two runs short of his half-century.

With Brighty having taken 3-40 and Peters 2-28, Mairiul Hussain was introduced into the attack and the slow bowler claimed three wickets for just four runs as St Ives were bowled out for just 135.

With rain threatening, Fordham were eager to make an immediate impact and left-hand opener VJ Vilthran did just that.

Vilthran raced to his 50 off just eight overs and, when he finally fell for 61, he had helped guide Fordham to 85-1 off 10 overs.

Fordham suffered a slight dip after the opener was dismissed but skipper Chamilla Mirrisearchchi with 24, Pat Willmott with 18 and Matt Weston (13 not out) saw the home side to victory inside 20 overs.

? WITCHAM slipped to a disappointing five-wicket defeat at Histon at the weekend.

Iain Housden managed 39 for Witcham batting first, with contributions of 27 from Michael Hook and Glen Griffiths helping the visitors post 167-5 at the close of their innings.

Young Brandon Phillips enjoyed a decent spell with the ball which yielded 3-42 for Witcham but there was little else to excite spectators as Histon reached 168-5 with relative ease.

There was better news for Witcham’s youngsters in the Fenland Trophy however, as they sailed to a 63-run win over Wimblington.

Captain Angus Pate led the line admirably for the home side as he managed 63, with Andrew George hitting 38 and Elliot Littleford impressing with 31 as Witcham posted 213.

The home side’s good form continued with the ball as Daniel Jeffries (3-31), Edward George (2-31) and Pate (2-18) sparkled. Wimblington were eventually dismissed for just 150.

CCA Divsion 2A

MIDDLE order duo Ryan Duffield and Phil Cornwell led Little Downham to a telling 69-run win over Sutton in Saturday’s derby match.

Batting first, Downham found life tough going early in the piece as openers Phil Baker (11) and N King (11) fell cheaply. The introduction of Duffield and Cornwell saw Sutton’s charge halted however, as the stubborn duo hit 73 and 87 respectively to lift Downham past the 200-run mark.

J White (19) put on some quick runs towards the close of the innings as Downham posted 213-5 at the close.

Ryan Bowles came away with figures of 3-30 in an excellent 10-over spell.

Lloyd Brown (32) saw Sutton off to a solid start before he was bowled by Palmer (2-36) but number four Cornelio De Plessis was quick to pick up Lloyd’s mantle as he hit 55.

At 80-4 the match remained in the balance, but things were soon to change as White was introduced into the Downham attack. The experienced paceman took 4-28 from just six overs to smash through the Sutton middle order.

Cooper made 20 at number seven for Sutton but it wasn’t enough to peturb the visitors who wrapped up the last wicket with 144 on the board.

? A SHORTAGE of runs cost Soham dearly against Wisbech on Saturday as they slipped to a seven-wicket defeat.

Tasked with batting first, Soham made the most lamentable of starts as openers Trevor Pauley and Iain Hobbs were dismissed for ducks. Number three Dale Isaacson fared little better as he made only five and it wasn’t until the arrival of Nick Mingay and Peter Fretwell at the crease that the visitors were finally able to get going.

The experienced duo made 33 and 28 respectively to push Soham past the 100-run mark and their stint inspired confidence lower down the order as Louis Beckett (17) and Matthew Fretwell (21) weighed in. Soham were eventually dismissed for 150.

A decent start for Wisbech openers Charlie Wood (18) and Dom Stannard (38) took some momentum out of the Soham attack and, despite two quick wickets from Paul Leaford (2-45), the home side were able to wrap up the win with seven wickets and 14 overs to spare.

? A SIX-wicket haul from Lourens Herselman wasn’t enough to guide Pymoor to victory against Leverington at the weekend.

The Pymoor paceman stormed through the visiting attack in double quick time as his side bowled first, proving irresistible to all but a few Leverington batsmen in his 10-over blitz.

Herselman finished with figures of 6-24, with wickets also for Legge and Saberton. Leverington were dismissed 142, albeit boosted by a disappointingly high haul of 42 extras.

The visitors were not to be outdone though, and opening bowlers Aaron Cobb (4-16) and John Gill (3-7) were quick to dole out the punishment to the home lineup.

Almost all of the batsmen were unable to score higher than 10 and only a late knock of 34 spared Pymoor’s blushes as they were dismissed for 92.

Cambs Premier League Division 2

IN a rain interrupted match, Fordham were victims of the weather and the league rules as they went down by four wickets at Saffron Walden.

After smashing 40 runs off the first five overs, Fordham went into their shell and the scoring receded dramatically.

Then, with the visitors on 66-1, the rain arrived and caused a delay of more than three hours. On the resumption Mark Abbott (20), Matt Foulds (21) and Chris Rule (25) all chipped in with useful cameos but it was opener Gavin Harding who led the way.

In addition to the rain delay, the home side’s three slow left arm bowlers undoubtedly restricted Fordham’s progress and, after they finished their allotted 48 overs, they were 186-6, with Harding unbeaten on 75.

With a huge chunk of time lost, Walden’s target was reduced to 94 from 24 overs, though they were also docked four wickets.

With Fordham’s attacking options restricted, Walden were quick to capitalise and reached their target after 19 overs, losing a further two wickets in the process.

CCA Divsion 3A

AN excellent all round performance from Wilburton was rewarded with a crushing 126-run win over Burwell III on Saturday.

Number three batsmen Thom Walker was in superb form for Wilburton batting first, as he smashed 13 boundaries, including 11 fours, on his way to 80.

Walker’s efforts were ably supported by Lee Newton (22) and Paul Dewey (27*) in the middle order as Wilburton punished the home attack.

Despite losing their last four wickets for just eight runs, the visitors posted a muscular 197 at the close.

G Neilson (2-28) and X Reeve (2-29) led the attack well for Burwell.

An opening salvo from Wilburton’s Newton and Steve Marshall quickly had the home side in trouble at 33-4.

Newton went on to pick up 4-33, while Marshall (2-22) and Dewey (2-8) also enjoyed good spells with the ball.

Burwell opener J Arksey was one of only two batsmen able to make it into double figures as he posted 13. The home side were eventually bowled out for just 71.

LITTLEPORT notched up a surprise 45-run victory over promotion hopefuls Haddenham on Saturday.

Batting first, the Port batsmen enjoyed a strong showing at the crease with Dan Beavis (96*) and Andrew Berry (24) helping the home side post an imposing 183-6 at the close.

Haddenham’s Neil Smith (3-28), Iain Jacobs (1-30) and Dillon Wass (2-41) enjoyed the best of the bowling for Haddenham.

Though Gary Thistlethwaite managed 49 and Smith an undefeated 23, Haddenham were unable to contend with a rampant Littleport attack, which saw them dismissed for 138.

C Farnell took 3-36, L Buxton 3-36 and Ben Shipp 2-33 in a vastly improved performance from the home side.

CCA Division 4A

IN their penultimate match of the season, Fordham came away from Bluntisham with a five-wicket victory to continue their impressive run.

Carl Houghton with 5-43 and Nick Clark with 4-29 ripped the heart out of the Bluntisham batting as the home side fell for 77.

Simon Murfitt (26) and Chris Foulds (16) put on 49 for the first wicket but suffered a mini-collapse with the openers departed, as Bluntisham rallied.

The tail end arrested the decline however, and helped secure the win inside 25 overs.