2ndXI Go Clear at the Top

7 Sep 2020

A full house of Saturday wins was reward for the Jets as three fine team displays returned 75 points across the board. The 2ndXI triumphed in their top-of-the-table encounter whilst the 3rdXI also inflicted a first league defeat on the leaders of their division.

Hawk Green v 1stXI

A balanced team display from the Jets 1stXI delivered a tight 10-run victory which provided excellent entertainment for a large crowd who braved the freezing conditions at Hawk Green. The 1stXI defended their first-innings 186-8 which was reached after a solid platform meant wickets in hand, enabling North East to double their score in the final ten overs.

Danny Williams was the beneficiary of the top order’s graft, expressing himself with shots all around the ground in his quickfire 59 (4x4, 4x6, 40b) that included a lap sweep into the pavilion for six. Earlier, Jake Reynolds had backed his decision to bat first on a wet deck with a well-compiled 42 as the top order all chipped in but none could bat through the innings to help amass a more dominant score of 200+.

It meant that the Jets’ only chance of victory was to bowl the hosts out and a wicket from the second ball of the reply was a perfect start from Jamie Henderson (2-36). Hawk Green play a positive brand of cricket though and the expected counter-attack saw stand-in skipper Ben Littler (50) and Sam Messih (42) pepper the boundary. However, the Jets stuck in and a containing spell from Dave Oldfield (4-32), reimagined as a left-arm spinner, won the middle overs and allowed the new ball bowlers to return to clean up the tail and register a fine win.

Scorecard

2ndXI v Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge

The clash of the two teams with 100% records in Division C East saw Alex Dyson’s 2ndXI come out on top in a tense, low-scoring encounter. Invited to bat first, the Jets got off to an inauspicious start at 5-3 against an experienced Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge side. Skipper Alex Dyson played a lone hand for a crucial 30 before being one of four wickets for veteran spinner Hooton as the 2ndXI eked out almost 37 overs at the crease for 76 all out.

Much happier with the ball in hand, the Jets then got to work after the interval and ended up comfortably defending their target. The skipper marshalled the attack well, holding back his young quicks in favour of the accuracy of Simon Hare (1-9) and Jimmy Williams (5-21) who helped reduce Ladybridge to 23-6. Joe Rooney (2-22) and Jack Parkey (2-6) then dealt with the tail to send the 2ndXI clear at the top of the table with three fixtures remaining.

Scorecard

3rdXI v Over Peover

Owen Johnson’s 3rdXI picked up a major scalp to complete a full set of Saturday victories as they saw off runaway league leaders Over Peover on Jackson’s Edge. Not only had the visitors won all of their games this season they had improbably completed all seven scheduled games despite the weather to amass a huge points tally. On the day though they were no match for the Jets after Chris Williams (53) and Scott Parkinson (32) helped post a competitive total of 142.

Making his 3rdXI debut, U15s allrounder Willis Brown immediately found success with the ball on his way to a miserly 3-6. Peover recovered from 12-3 thanks to limpet opener Slack and the aggressive Jumnani (58) but when the former was prised out by Owen Johnson (4-26) for a 73-ball 10 the innings quickly unraveled. Scott Parkinson added to his fine day with 2-29, narrowly avoiding a hat-trick, as the visitors were bowled out for 89.

Scorecard