By Match reports: Cleethorpes cricket sides record successful weekend of results
Three out of four Cleethorpes Cricket Club sides secured victories in their fixtures over the weekend.
The first, third and T20 teams all came out on top in their matches, while the second team fell to a disappointing defeat.
The 1st team secured a 61-run win against a strong Doncaster Town side on Saturday afternoon.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the Meggies made a solid start before Keast was dismissed for 23.
Jordan Cook (17) formed a partnership with Bill Kirby, but it was the duo of James Hubball (45) and Kirby (75) that were the backbone of the total following good running on a sticky surface.
Some final over boundaries from Tom Morris and Kieran Brooker took the total to over the 200 mark, which was judged to be about par at the halfway stage.
Doncaster opened up with Lincolnshire batter Jaden fell and Big Bash opener Caleb Jewell.
Morris was able to dismiss both openers in his five-over spell, with the catch from Tom Keast to dismiss Jewell a particular highlight, as the ball swirled around in the sky before being acrobatically taken.
The wickets from Morris – alongside two from Josh Knapton in his opening spell – left Doncaster at 37-4. A brilliant run out from Cook then had them in big trouble at 55-5.
A partnership was formed before the final five wickets were taken by Mayank Mishra (3-50) and Matthew Owen (2-21). Despite some late-order resistance, the Meggies secured an excellent win after bowling Doncaster out for 142.
Cleethorpes’ 2nd team slumped to a disappointing eight-wicket defeat on Saturday away at Market Rasen.
Having elected to bat first, the Meggies were bowled out for 50, with only John Mansfield (10) and Paul Ridley (11*) offering any form of resistance.
Cleethorpes took two wickets with the ball, as both Alfie Deans and Jack Holmes added to their league-wicket tallies.
Cleethorpes 3rds continued their promotion push, as they claimed a victory at Grimoldby
After the visitors elected to bat first following a run of good batting performances, they were reduced to 50-3 following some tight early bowling from the hosts.
The Meggies lost Warton, Brown and Cowlam for low scores, but Akbar Amadzai (16) partnered with a diligent Stuart Wood to fight back to 80-4 before he fell.
That brought Simon Taylor to the crease and the pair dug in and rebuilt the innings on a slow outfield before Wood was run out for 35.
Hanzullah Niazi joined Taylor as they looked to finish the innings with a flourish. Niazi (52*) took advantage of some loose bowling with some big hitting, both left and right-handed, while Taylor (25*) supported him to help Clee post a total of 167-6.
The visitors’ opening bowlers Arifkhan Waklizai (1-21) and Will Hollamby (2-9) picked up wickets at regular intervals in the opening 15 overs, followed up by some excellent swing bowling by Rasoulkhan Ahmadzai (3-21) and Hanzullah (2-2) put Grimoldby under pressure and they never looked like chasing down the total.
Young Liam Macfarlane put in a superb display on a pitch offering no assistance with a spell of 1-36.
A resilient final-wicket partnership that lasted 15 overs was finally broken, limiting Grimoldby to 107 and handing the Meggies a vital 20 points in their push for promotion.
Elsewhere, Cleethorpes 1st T20 team secured two comprehensive wins against Hallam and Elsecar on Sunday.
The Meggies posted 222-6 from their 20 overs against Hallam, with valuable contributions from Tom Keast (42), Mayank Mishra (58), Kieran Brooker (41) and skipper Ian Mansfield (35).
Some late blows from Kris Hall and John Mansfield, who hit six off one ball, capped off a superb first 20 overs.
Hallam came hard from the outset, but the bowlers held their nerve and wickets were shared with Brooker (2-28) and Cook (2-26) the pick of the attack.
A quick turnaround between games and a loss of the toss meant Cleethorpes were back in the heat and the field fairly quickly against Elsecar.
Josh Knapton bowled key man Taruwar Kohli for 12 and wickets were taken at regular intervals to bowl Elsecar out for 99 following a fine bowling and fielding performance.
Some early wickets were lost in the chase, but Keast hit 62 off 33 balls. That meant a boundary from Mansfield at the start of the 11th over capped off a very good day for Cleethorpes that takes them through to the final’s day.
