Mathys in majestic form for Ketton Sports; last wicket stand stalls Oakham; convincing victory for Marko
Joash Mathys produced a superb all-round performance as Ketton Sports continued their Leicestershire League Division Four East title charge with an emphatic victory on Saturday.
Mathys claimed five wickets and hit an unbeaten 37 as Sports stormed to a six-wicket win away at Langtons 2nds.
The Leicestershire League newcomers have now won all three of their completed games this season to set the early pace in the standings.
They dismissed Langtons for 85 on Saturday as Mathys claimed five of the top seven home batsmen to return 5-37 from 10.1 overs.
Peter Rowe also returned 3-24 from nine overs to leave Sports excellently placed to claim the 25-point haul.
However, their reply began disastrously as their four top order batsmen were all dismissed without reaching double figures.
However, man of the moment Mathys joined skipper Robin Vitas – who was unbeaten on 32 at the close - to steer Ketton Sports home.
A crucial last wicket stand foiled Oakham's hopes of claiming back-to-back victories in Division One of the Leicestershire League on Saturday.
They had visiting Enderby on 183-9 when last man John Daly joined Tom Cartwright at the crease.
Daly then struck 25 runs off 24 balls while Cartwright cracked an unbeaten 40 as their 55-run last wicket partnership proved crucial as Oakham fell 43 runs short in their reply.
Looking to build on last week's win, Oakham had put their visitors into bat and they made 238-9 from their 45 overs after overcoming a sticky start.
They were reeling on 30-2 after Charlie Baker and Shaun Morris both picked up early wickets.
However, the arrival of Neal Mackay at the crease stabilised the Enderby innings as he top scored with 64.
He was eventully dismissed after helping Enderby to 154-6 and, despite Oakham rallying well, the last wicket stand proved crucial.
Cartwright was unbeaten on 40 at the close with last man Daly on 25 not out to thwart to the efforts of Baker, Morris and Darren Jones who all collected two wickets apiece.
Oakham skipper Richard Martin (35) and Chris Larsen (20) put on 52 for the first wicket while Morris then hit four fours and two sixes in a 68-ball innings of 57.
However, despite Baker blasting 29, Oakham were unable to match their visitors' late order heroics as they were dismissed for 195. Daly was also a thorn in Oakham's side with the ball as he bagged 4-44.
Market Overton claimed an emphatic nine-wicket win over Leicester Cricketers in Division Five East.
They dismissed their visitors for just 94 in 24 overs thanks to a brilliant bowling display from Brian Makwana, Will Plumb and David Lambert.
Makwana took 4-30 from 12 overs while Plumb plundered 2-25 and Lambert 3-35 from six over spells as five visiting batsmen failed to trouble the scorers. Javid Nuniya was the Cricketers' top scorer with 43.
Marko took just 14.4 overs to pass the required total with Richard Flowers Jnr hitting an unbeaten 36 and Makwana 19 not out.
Opener Dale Howkins had also contributed 19 to the Marko cause before being the only wicket to fall.
Oakham 2nds went to down to a 17-run defeat at Cosby in the same division after being dismissed for 124 in pursuit of the hosts' 141-9.
Wakerley and Barrowden suffered a 125-run home defeat against Division Nine East high-flyers GNG.
The visitors were dismissed by 217 with Chris White taking an impressive 4-14 from 12 overs for the hosts while Bob White claimed 3-13 from 2.2 overs.
Chris White (14), Jonny White (19) and Glenn Moody (21) led the Wakerley reply, but seven batsmen failed to get into double figures to leave Wakerley all out for 92.