Image

Cleethorpes Cricket Club suffered in the heat at Doncaster on Saturday slipping to an eight wicket defeat

The leaders of the 4 Probate & Wills ECB Yorkshire South Premier League, gained ample revenge for the defeat they suffered at Chichester Road at the end of May, which was the last time Cleethorpes tasted victory.

Still without Louis Kimber, who had failed to recover from injury, the Meggies were struggling from the off after winning the toss, and electing to bat.
In no time at all they were on the back foot with two wickets lost for an equal number of runs. The reliable Bill Kirby and Jordan Cook joined forces and slowly began to rebuild the innings. Cook in particular was severe in dealing with any rare loose delivery as the partnership became worth 50 after twenty overs.
The introduction of James Stewart into the attack brought problems for the Cleethorpes batsmen. Getting excess movement he repeatedly beat the bat before, with the score on 63, he accounted for Cook. An excellent low catch by Duncan Heath brought the demise of the youthful Cook after he had scored 29.This exposed the middle order to Stewart who continued to use the conditions to his advantage.  Three wickets fell in a cluster leaving the Meggies reeling at 74-6 with only Kirby appearing defiant.
Overseas player, Basheeru Walters, joined Kirby and together they took the total beyond 100 before Walters lofted a shot into the covers giving Joe Gallagher a comfortable catch.
Kirby completed his own half century which had taken him 115 balls to complete, but he had held the innings together which, after the departure of Cook, had looked likely to fold completely.
In an effort to gather some late runs, Kirby was eventually bowled by Jack Shutt hitting across the line after seeing the total to 131 and his own score to 58.
Some late blows by Joe Baker (18) did enable the Meggies to total 159 before the final wicket fell. Once again, however, their batting line-up had failed to post what could be considered a competitive total.
When the home side replied, Baker struck an early blow when he trapped Stewart leg before but that proved to be a solitary success.
Duncan Heath, who had hit a half century in the Chichester Road game, and Bilal Anjam built a partnership with neither batsman looking in any discomfort. The stand became worth 50 in the 19th over with the total passing 100 six overs later.
Both batsmen reached half centuries, firstly Anjam (from 69 balls) followed three overs later by Heath, who had taken 92 balls to reach the landmark.
Only 9 runs were required when Anjam edged a Max Taylor delivery into the hands of Cook which gave the Meggies a second scalp before Doncaster reached their target with over 15 overs to spare.
At the start of a new month Cleethorpes need to bounce back and demonstrate belief in their own ability. One victory could restore confidence, and halt the alarming slide down the league table.

Contact Gi Grimsby
Email us: news@gi-media.co.uk
Follows us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest local stories, breaking news and to join the conversation

subscriber

    Leave a Reply