Stocksbridge go back to the summit of Division One

Stocksbridge 1st XI 243-8 (Jack Newton 125, Ozzie Warren 47, Chris Pickford 27) Sheffield Centrailians 1st XI 104 all out (Joe Hibbert 4-22, Jack Newton 3-8, Andy Hibbert 2-22)

DESPITE the wet weather throughout the previous week, the sun was shining down over Bracken Moor as Stocksbridge first XI welcomed Sheffield Centrailians. It was the visitors who won the toss and elected to field first.

Jack Newton

The Stocksbridge innings got off to a slow start with the opening bowlers keeping it tight and make it difficult to score runs easily. Just as the Centrailians thought they were on top, Jack Newton began to change the tide as he started to find the boundaries and the run rate quickly increased.

The opening partnership passed 50 before Matt Price fell for a gritty 10. Chris Pickford joined Newton and the pair seemed to score freely. The change bowlers were having little success with Newton and Pickford finding the boundaries at regular intervals.

Pickford was the next man to go, top edging the ball back to the bowler for a well made 27. This brought Ozzie Warren to the crease and him and Newton scored quickly as Stocksbridge accelerated and looked set for a formidable total.

Newton was now well set and was dispatching the bowling to all parts, Newton reached his century for the second time this season and didn’t look like he was finished yet. Both Warren and Newton fell at similar times but had both made excellent contributions, Warren added 47 before Newton was finally removed for a wonderful 125.

The middle order came and went looking to score quick runs and Stocksbridge posted 243 from their allotted overs.

This meant that Sheffield Centrailians required 244 to win with Stocksbridge well in the driving seat at the half way stage. In truth the innings never really got going for Centrailians, the father-son combination of Andy and Joe Hibbert took early wickets to damped any hopes that Centrailians had of winning the game.

Joe was the first into action picking up the opening three wickets of the innings with some hostile bowling. Andy, who never likes to be outdone by his son, replied with two wickets of his own and all of a sudden Centrailians were five down.

Jake Vickers was then brought into the action and he quickly claimed a wicket to reduce Centrailians to six now. The game was now just meandering as there was only to be one winner. A slight rally for the seventh wicket saw Centrailians up to 100. Joe Hibbert was brought back into the attack to break the partnership and claim his fourth of the day.

Fittingly the hero with that bat also finishing the game with the ball. Newton came into the attack and quickly picked up the last three wickets of the innings for just eight runs. This secured a 139 run victory and more importantly a vital 25 points for Stocksbridge which now takes them back to the top of the Division One table.

Stocksbridge 2nd XI 97 all out (Elliot Freeman 24, Harry Hurst 22) Sheffield Centrailians 2nd XI 98-2 (Paul Hargreaves 2-24)

Next week sees the first XI welcome Sheffield Medics to Bracken Moor and the second XI make the journey to Ridgeway.