Stony Stratford went some way to easing their relegation fears with a fine 74 run win at home to Rushton on Saturday. With the two teams above them also securing positive result, the win leaves Stony in tenth place still. However, bottom side Wellingborough lost again and are now 57 points behind the Ostlers Lane club.
Relegation will not be an issue if Stony can perform like this on a regular basis. Firstly, having been asked to bat first by Rushton skipper Mark Jackson, they smashed a huge total on a wicket that was not ideal for batting. After tea, they produced a fine bowling and fielding display to dismiss one of the league’s better batting sides and in doing so secured maximum points for their day’s work.
Stony’s innings was built around a tremendous partnership of 171 between Mitz Choksi and Dion Ebrahim, who scored a first century of the summer somewhat later than usual! Opener Garth Davson snicked an away swinger from Jamie Smith behind to Alan Smith early on to depart for 4, but Choksi and Ebrahim soon settled any nerves by going on to dominate the visiting attack. Former Middlesex left armer Jackson led the attack well but had no luck in a good opening spell, but the rest of the Rushton attack struggled. Choksi sensibly mixed his trademark attacking strokeplay with quick singles and he got to fifty first with a straight drive down the ground for four. Ebrahim also collected his half century soon after but not before he survived a very confident appeal for caught behind which was given out much to the dismay of the visiting side. It was not the first controversial umpiring decision of the day but despite this, the game was played in a good spirit.
Following last week’s batting debacle at Finedon, Stony were again showing the sort of form that has seen them become one of the league’s highest run scorers of late. Rushton turned to the leg spin of Gurjeet Sapal and his first over went for 18 as he bowled too short at Ebrahim who deposited ball after ball into the adjacent car park. Sapal was replaced by John Carpenter and he was also harshly dealt with, this time by Choksi who hit two towering sixes as he raced towards a second century of the season. However, in attempting to pull another long hop to the boundary he didn’t quite connect and found the safe hands of Marcus Steed to fall for a well played 90. Ebrahim ploughed on, joined by Nick Allen and the pair continued to keep the score ticking over before Allen chipped a simple catch to Parker at midwicket to give Carpenter’s figures a slightly more respectable look. Chris Bolton joined Ebrahim just in time for the Zimbabwean to raise his bat having reached three figures and he went on to finish unbeaten on 137 from 155 balls. Bolton played impressively at the end, rotating the strike and hitting the bad balls well to end up unbeaten on 18 as Stony set Rushton 276 to chase for the loss of just 3 wickets.
Rushton started the game in fifth place in the table and much of their success has been built around a very strong batting unit. Their reply got off to a solid enough start with Steed and Sapal looking up to the challenge set by Stony’s new ball pair Steve Bellew and Habib Ullah. But, Stony were fired up and desperate for the win and Ullah struck in the eighth over to clean bowl Steed for 17 to get the home side on the board. With the score on 40 for 1 after 12 overs, Bellew made a double bowling change, bringing on youngsters Chris Guy and Simon Myatt. Left arm spinner Myatt was to have a real influence on Stony’s win and he soon took the first of 4 wickets by trapping Sapal on the back leg in front to have the former Desborough man lbw for 33. Guy then struck with his away swingers as Carpenter’s poor day continued, edging to Ebrahim at first slip to depart for 3. When Myatt then had Brad Armer and Jackson caught in quick succession by the flamboyant Choksi at slip, the visitors were in real trouble at 62 for 5. To their credit, Rushton continued to go for the win and Kieran Pierce (57) and Dean Joy (40) put on 92 for the sixth wicket, forcing Bellew to change the bowling and field around on a regular basis to keep the batsmen guessing. In the end, both Pierce and Joy fell in identical fashion, both caught at long on by Nick Allen attempting to loft Ebrahim’s off spin for six. It was now a case of survival for Rushton and their cause was dealt a blow by the returning Ullah, who bowled Parker for 4 and had Jamie Smith caught behind to leave them nine down for 178. The game went down to a nail biting finish as last pair Mandeep Singh and Alan Smith dug in to try and force the draw. They first took the score over 200 and looked solid. With three overs to go, Smith edged Myatt to the usually reliable hands of Bellew at slip, only for the skipper to grass a sharp chance. But to their credit, Stony kept going and with three balls to go, Singh chose to try and cut a quicker delivery from Myatt but edged it this time to Nick Allen who clung on to a very tough chance giving Stony the win.
Stony travel to title contenders Northampton Saints next week. Saints are a very strong consistent side and it should be a fascinating encounter depending on which Stony side decide to turn up!
Stony 2nds maintained the pressure on the top two in Division 3 with a comprehensive 7 wicket win at mid table Heyford. Third placed Stony bowled the home side out for 98 with two wickets each for George Humphries, Andy Humphries and David Avery. But it was 16 year old Andy Ellemore who did the bulk of the damage, taking 4 wickets for just 6 runs to decimate the Heyford lower order.
In reply, Stony lost youngster Tom Moore early on for a duck but Steve Underdown (38) and Richard Scott (40) wasted little time in making sure Stony got over the line. They both fell just before the end but Chris Swain (4*) made sure that his side secured a sixth win of the season.
Stony’s 3rd XI completed a clean sweep on Saturday for the club by claiming a five wicket win against Old Northamptonians Academy. ON’s batted first and were all out for 164 in 42 overs with Jamie Baxter (4 for 32) and Neil Fewtrell (3 for 33) leading the way. In reply, Baxter again proved decisive this time with the bat as his well made 49 made sure Stony reached their target in only 35 overs. Earlier, Andy Preston had got the innings off to a solid start with 40.