Shildon Railway Cricket Club 1st XI visited local rivals Newton Aycliffe in the North Yorks & South Durham Premier Cricket League Division 2 and returned home having been soundly beaten – a dismal result for the Railwaymen, reports John Brennan.
The Newtonians won the toss and batted first, which seemed a good decision as they raced to 119 in 19 overs, for the loss of two wickets. The Railwaymen then tightened up their bowling and dismissed the home side for 210 in the 47th over. David Robinson (3-23) and Joe Knowles (3-19) were the visitors’ successful bowlers, with veteran Phil Garbutt bowling a good opening spell of 12 overs, taking 1 for 36.
Replying, an all too familiar middle order collapse saw Shildon lose 5 wickets in 12 overs, when adding 42 runs. The side was all out in the 34th over for 130 with the loss leaving them in 4th position. Only three players reached double figures batting: Greg Upton (28), Steve Forster (26) and Dan Nelson (39).
At Hackworth Road, there was a crunch fixture in the Darlington & District Cricket League Division B, as 2nd placed Shildon hosted 3rd placed Eryholme, with the sides equal on points. The Railwaymen enjoyed a good win over their close promotion rivals, thus ending a miserable losing streak. The visitors won the toss and elected to bat. After the allotted 40 overs they totalled 153 for 6, with skipper Matthew Summerbell (2 for 30) and Chris Young (2 for 34) being the pick of the bowlers.
Dhanesh Dharmarathnam, with 54 not out, led the side to victory in the 28th over, with the score at 155 for 5. Shildon remain in second place, 25 points behind leaders Barton and 14 points ahead of Haughton and Eryholme respectively.
In another crunch fixture, the 2nd team travels to Barton next Saturday and the 1st team is at home to Marton.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
