Grim weekend for Peterborough Town as Northants and National hopes are dashed, Bourne win a thriller, Zeeshan hits out in Deeping win, Aussie shines for Ramsey, double delight for March

Town, who were missing star all-rounders Lewis Bruce (injured) and Mohammed Danyaal (wedding), went down by seven wickets to Wanstead and Snaresbrook. Three more wins will see the visitors play in a final at Lord’s and it will take a good side to stop the current leaders of the Essex Premier League.

Town fought, especially with the ball at the start of Wanstead’s pursuit of a modest 125 all-out as seamers Mark Edwards and Jamie Smith bowled well without much luck, but the support cast couldn’t contain a couple of gifted batsmen, most notably Kishen Velani, an all-rounder with first-class games with Essex under his belt.

Velani’s 51 was classy and stylish before teenage leg-spinner KP Singh dismissed him, but by then the damage had been done as Wanstead and Snaresbrook eased home with eight overs and one ball to spare.

Velani also claimed three wickets as Town struggled to gain any momentum with the bat after opener Chris Milner had taken three boundaries from the the third over.

Milner made 28 before skipper David Clarke and Alex Mitchell, who both made 31, added 42 for the fourth wicket, but from 83-3 the Town innings crumbled.

It had been a grim Saturday for Town as they lost their grip on the Northants T20 Championship trophy. The city side had to win their final two matches and hope for help from elsewhere to qualify for finals day, but a heavily depleted squad went down by eight wickets at Brigstock in a shortened game before their second match against ONs was abandoned because of heavy rain.

Oundle Town do go through to finals day at a venue to be decided. Their final two qualifying matches were washed out, but three successive wins earlier in the competition takes them through alongside Desborough, Finedon and Kislingbury Temperance.

Bourne took a giant step towards retaining their Lincs Premier Division crown by beating third placed Grantham by a solitary run in a thrilling rain-affected game at the Abbey Lawn.

Ben Wright (82 from 81 balls), Carl Wilson (53) and Pete Morgan (40 from 27 balls) pushed Bourne up to 257-8 in 43 overs when rain interrupted the innings seven overs early.

That left Grantham chasing a revised target of 265, also from 43 overs, but Brandon Diplock (3-35) and Rob Bentley (3-44) ensured they didn’t quite make it.

Bourne have now won all nine Premier Division matches and hold a 22-point lead at the top.

Market Deeping completed their own hat-trick of wins by hammering former champions Bracebridge Heath by 194 runs at Outgang Road. Zeeshan Manzoor thrashed a typically brutal 84 from just 48 balls (9 sixes and 4 fours) as Deeping posted a challenging 276.

Josh Smith (55) had delivered a run-a-ball start at the top of the innings before overseas player Ashar Hafeez cracked 51 from 52 balls. Hafeez went on to enjoy a great all-round day by bagging 5-19 from 10 overs as Bracebridge were rushed out for just 82.

Spalding went down by 50 runs at Woodhall Spa to fall below Deeping into 10th place.

The big game in Cambs Division One between Eaton Socon and Wisbech Town was washed out. There were Saturday wins for March Town and Ramsey, but Stamford Town have slipped to the bottom of the table after slumping to 70 all out and a six wicket defeat at the hands of Newmarket. Stamford also lost by 120 runs at home to March on Sunday, falling foul of all-round excellence from Alex Millard (104 & 3-29).

Aussie Elliot Durrant (42 & 3-16) enjoyed another fine day for Ramsey.

Bourne take on Burghley Park in the final of the Stamford Charity Cup T20 Final at Castor CC on Monday (6pm start).

Results

ECB Club KO Area Final

Wanstead & Snaresbrook 126-3 (T. Simmons 57no, K. Velani 51) beat Peterborough Town 125 (D. Clarke 32, A. Mitchell 31, C. Milner 28)by 7 wkts

Northants T20 Championship

Brigstock 80-2 beat Peterborough Town 88-7 (K. Medcalf 29, S. Saleem 25no) on run rate

Peterborough Town 62-1 (Josh Smith 30no) v Old Northamptonians match abandoned:

Kislingbury Temperance v Oundle, Overstone v Oundle abandoned.

Lincs Premier Division

Bourne 257-8 (B. Wright 82, C. Wilson 53, J. Temple 41, P. Morgan 40) beat Grantham 264-9 (J. Kendall 85, B. Diplock 3-35, R. Bentley 3-44) by 1 run (rain revised target).

Market Deeping 276 (Z. Manzoor 84, J. Smith 55, A. Hafeex 51) beat Bracebridge Heath 82 (A. Hafeez 5-18, H. Niazi 3-15) by 194 runs

Woodhall Spa 156-7 (B. Andrews 2-21, N. Atapattu 2-28) beat Spalding 103 (J. Lawrence 38) by 3 wkts.

Cambs Division One

March 158-4 (C. Oldroyd 34no) beat Cambridge St Giles 146 (S. Clarke 5-44, C. Young 2-23, S. Pooley 2-26) by 41 runs (rain revised target).

Ramsey 216-8 (E. Durrant 42, B. Saunders 37, T. Morrison 36) beat Old Leysians 94-8 (D. Carlaw 3-15, E. Durrant 3-16, J. Cafferkey 2-25) by 122 runs.

Newmarket 71-4 (T. Juggins 2-33) beat Stamford Town 70 by 6 wkts

March 240-6 (A. Millard 104, U. Ranathunga 47, A. Birch 2-37, D. Stratton 2-58) beat Stamford 120 (A. Birch 41, S. Pooley 3-25, A. Millard 3-29) by 120 runs

Eaton Socon v Wisbech abandoned

Cambs Division Two

Castor 27-0 v Saffron Walden 2nds, Waresley v Ufford Park abandoned.