Newton Aycliffe Cricket Club’s 1st team team, sponsored by Franks The Flooring Store, earned their first win of the season with a hard fought 24 run victory at home to Normanby Hall in the 2nd division of the NYSD League.
Asked to bat first, Aycliffe were in deep trouble at 54 for 7 with only captain Chris Palmer (22 runs) looking comfortable. However, some excellent late order hitting from Michael Howe, who defied a badly broken finger to top score with an unbeaten 37 and useful innings from both Matt Atkinson (31 runs) and debutant Pritpal Grewal (15 runs), helped Aycliffe’s total to 138 all out after 39 overs.
In reply the visitors looked to be heading for victory with their score at 100 for 5, but an inspired spell of left arm spin bowling from Luke Telford (photo attached) helped take Aycliffe to their first win of the season as Normanby Hall were bowled out for just 114 after 39.4 overs.
The 2nd team made the long trip to Whitby 2nd XI with a very young team containing eight juniors and were handed a ten wicket defeat in their 3rd division match. Aycliffe were asked to bat first on a very wet wicket and did well to reach 87 all out after 38.2 overs, with Tom Wickins top scoring with 26 and Craig Robertson chipping in with 14. The home side quickly reached their winning target of 88 in the 17th over without losing a wicket as Aycliffe took the opportunity to share the bowling duties among the youngsters in the team.
