CRICKET: Dunton march on as perfect record stays intact

There’s no stopping Dunton Bassett at the moment as they racked up another win to maintain their 100 per cent record in Division Six East of the Leicestershire & Rutland League.

Dunton batted first against Leicester Caribbean 2nd and put a huge total of 283-6 on the board with Meyer continuing his good form with an eye-catching 52.

A good partnership between Simon Chapman (41) and Sachin Abey (66) kept the scoreboard ticking along nicely and some good hitting from Karan Bari and Niral Popat in the last 10 overs helped them post a commanding total.

Caribbean set about their chase with some exceptional batting yet wickets fell at regular intervals with Tom Holroyd taking 2-21 from six overs, Niral Popat 2-57 from 10 and Simon Chapman with 2-7 from just three overs.

Nevertheless, Caribbean made Dunton work hard in the field for the full 40 overs, reaching 201-7 which meant Dunton won by 82 runs.

Dunton Bassett 2nd travelled to SPA in Division Eight East.

Having been asked to bowl first, Dunton duly dismissed their hosts for 120 with Aaron Smalley taking 5-46 and Keith Hall claiming 3-39.

In reply, Dunton started steadily on a difficult pitch but they lost three wickets which brought Mez Barot to the crease to join opener Ben Sercombe.

And they both found the boundary with ease to help send Dunton to their first win of the season, Sercombe (62no) carrying his bat for a maiden senior half-century while Barot was unbeaten on 33.

Gumley made it three wins from four matches in Division Eight East as they defeated Electricity Sports 4th by 20 runs.

Batting first, a 55-run opening partnership between Den Pickering (81) and teenager Cameron Read (24) put the home side on for an above par score.

After losing quick wickets, Jason Campe (27) and Matt Short (30) made sure Gumley passed the 200 mark, closing on 213-8 from their 40 overs.

Campe’s spell of 2-36 off 10 overs then set Gumley on their quest for victory.

A fourth-wicket partnership then grew and looked as though it might send Sports to victory until the introduction of Den Pickering and re introduction of Tej Thalange.

Both bowlers claimed three wickets apiece as Gumley secured another success.

Coming off their first win of the season, Bowden hosted an experienced Oundle 2nd in Division Three of the Northants Cricket League.

Bowden’s opening batsman Anthony Paton (52) picked up where he left off as he hit his way to a second consecutive half century.

He was supported by skipper Fran Finnemore (59) whose platform helped middle order batsmen Rhys Hoenes (31) and Josh Bott (33) combine a mixture of strike rotation and power hitting to help the hosts reach a slightly above par 221-8 from 45 overs.

In reply, Oundle raced to 60-1 inside 10 overs.

Bowden clawed back some momentum in the middle overs thanks to Bott (10-1-31-1) and Finnemore (6-1-27-2).

However, experienced Oundle opener Matt Ingram’s unbeaten 101, along with some uncharacteristically sloppy ground fielding, allowed the away side to reach the target with nine balls to spare.

It doesn’t get any easier for Bowden as they host leaders Geddington 2nd this weekend.

Bowden’s most recent All Stars Cricket session focused on batting and fielding.

With around 50 children present, the club ran three separate activities.

The children practiced hitting a stationary ball from a high tee to become familiar with bat grip and direction.

They then practised fielding a moving ball and throwing at the wickets.

And the most popular activity saw the group split into teams and trying to score as many runs as possible.