This weekend's mission for Peterborough Town and Oundle Town is to win a trophy and stay alive in the Premier Division title race
Honours could be won and lost on a busy weekend of Northants League action.
The Northants T20 Championship Finals day was a washout at Geddington CC last Saturday so Oundle Town and Peterborough Town will battle for the trophy this Sunday at the same venue.
Holders Oundle, who went on to reach the National Final last summer, will tackle Old Northamptonians in the first semi-final at 10am with Peterborough Town, runners-up last year, taking on Rushden & Higham in the second semi-final at 1.15. The final will follow at approximately 4.30pm.
Before then there is a potentially decisive fixture in the Northants Premier Division on Saturday with Oundle requiring a win against clear leaders Finedon at Milton Road (11am) to keep alive their hopes of finishing on top.
The league has now switched to a straight win/lose 50 over format for the second half of the season with a maximum of 20 points available to the winners. Finedon lead the division by 36 points from Peterborough Town with Oundle a further 14 points back in third with nine games for all still to play.
A win for Finedon would therefore virtually kill the action well before they host Peterborough Town on the final day of the season (September 20).
The straight win/lose matches place a greater emphasis on strength in depth as five bowlers must be used. That could suit the local teams and Oundle will be encouraged by the sight of Pakistani pro Waseem Akram Junior bowling in the final weekend of T20 group matches.
Oundle hired Akram Junior in the hope a serious opening bowler would be the missing ingredient as they bid for a first top-flight title in their history, but he’s barely turned his arm over.
Peterborough Town’s title bid has been undermined badly by defeats at the hands of Desborough Town and Old Northamptonians, two teams currently residing in the bottom three. Desborough are at Bretton Gate on Saturday seeking just a third win of the campaign.
The city side have beaten Finedon and enjoyed the better of a draw with Oundle so to find themselves so far off top spot is frustrating. For once David Clarke’s side will be hoping for an Oundle win on Saturday.
Whatever happens then Oundle will be hot favourites to win the T20 Championship. They were the only team to win every qualifying match ahead of Finals Day including a massive 144-run success over their neighbours.
STAT ATTACK
Peterborough Town opener Josh Smith is the leading run scorer in the Northants Premier Division with 516 at an average of 73.71. He has scored two centuries with a top score of 135 not out against Finedon on the opening day of the season.
Oundle captain Mark Hodgson is seventh in the runs charts with exactly 300 (average 33.33) which included a splendid 118 v Peterborough Town at Milton Road. Teammate Waseem Akram Junior is ninth with 275 runs at an average of 34.38.
Oundle’s Craig brothers are among the top 5 wicket-takers in the Premier Division. Seamer Conor and slow left armer Harrison have both picked up 18 wickets with the former taking his at an average of 17.06 and the latter’s costing just 14.11 apiece. The only Peterborough Town bowler in the top 10 is pro left-arm seamer Hayatullah Niazi who has 15 wickets at 19.67.