Third placed Shildon travelled to second placed Barnard Castle, in the North Yorks. & South Durham Premier Cricket League Division 2 and returned home having been firmly trounced by their opponents, reports John Brennan.
Shildon were understrength, missing amongst others skipper Greg Upton and Aussie Jacob Dinger, their two leading batsmen. Having put Barney into bat, Shildon allowed the home side to progress from 107 for 4, after 23 overs and 135 for 4 after 36 overs, to a massive 296 for 6 from 50 overs. The last over of the innings conceded 34 runs, as the home batsmen peppered the Vere Road Ground’s boundary.
From this point it was highly unlikely that the Railwaymen would win the game, so the team needed to knuckle down and bat for above two and a half hours to save the game and achieve as many points as possible. Shildon failed to deny their opponents victory, despite a defiant 54 from Loyd Horner and 63 from Ben Ryan. The Railwaymen batted for 45 of 50 overs, but eight of the team failed to make runs in double figures.
The result leaves Shildon in third place but the gap to the top two teams has widened and this result has seriously dented promotion hopes.
As The Crier goes to press, the team hosts Northallerton in the quarter final of the N.Y.S.D. 100 Cup, after beating Hartlepool, at Park Drive, in the latest mid-week game. Hartlepool won the toss and elected to bat. Their score was restricted to 108 for 6 from 100 balls, with Dan Nelson taking 3 for 12 from 15 balls. However, Shildon struggled in reply, until a fine little cameo innings of 25 from 12 balls, by Ben Ryan, put the team back on track. Again, a real captain’s knock by Greg Upton (39 not out, from 40 balls) held the innings together and saw the side to victory with 110 for 5 from 81 balls.
Sitting proudly at the top of the table, the 2nd team hosted Raby Castle at the Hackworth Road Ground, in the Darlington & District Cricket League Division B. Raby were put into bat and made 122 for 9 in their 40 overs. Shildon’s bowlers shared the wickets with Andrew Clegg, Matthew Summerbell, Shane Rowley and Dhanesh Dharmarathnam each taking two.
The Railwaymen raced to victory in less than 24 overs as Shane Rowley (56) and skipper Matthew Summerbell (40) were again amongst the runs. The result keeps Shildon top of Division B, 9 points clear of Barton.
This Saturday sees the 1st team at Hartlepool, whilst the 2nd team takes on Catterick Village at the Hackworth Road Ground in the next round of league fixtures.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
