NORTHANTS LEAGUE: Peterborough Town thrash troubled Rushton, skipper Hodgson steers Oundle to victory

They bounced back from suffering a first loss of the season last weekend against Finedon with an emphatic nine-wicket triumph at Rushton and it was all over well before 3pm.

Basement boys Rushton, who have recently lost most of their top players, batted first and were struggling from the word go as Richard Kendall quickly picked up two wickets. He finished with figures of 2-9 off seven overs and Vansh Bajaj (2-21) also claimed two wickets off his seven overs.

The real star with the ball for Town though was Matt Milner, who had a 5-23 return off his 9.3 overs as Rushton were dimissed for just 64 in 32 overs.

Town then raced to 67-1 in 8.4 overs with skipper David Clarke 35 not out and Bajaj 25 not out.

The win keeps Town third in the table.

Fifth-placed Oundle were also impressive winners. They were at home to Horton House and won by 57 runs thanks largely to a superb century from their skipper Mark Hodgson.

He smashed an unbeaten run-a-ball 147 clobbering 17 fours and four sixes as Oundle piled up a formidable total of 317-5. Phil Adams was next best with 56.

Horton House were then dismissed in 45.5 overs for 260. Harrison Craig took 5-37.

There was also a local centurian in the Division Two game between Peterborough Town seconds and Old at Bretton Gate.

That was Balaji Ganesan for Town seconds, but unfortunately he finished up on the losing side.

His 114 not out steered Town to 264-4 but Old reached 265-4 with eight overs to spare.

Oundle seconds won a high-scoring contest against Horton House seconds in Division Three, successfully chasing the home side’s 284-4 and again there was a ton from a local batsman.

They got to 283-3 in 45.3 overs with opener Matthew Ingham the main man. He struck a brilliant 132 not out off 125 balls, hitting 19 fours and a six.

Cedric Williams was 50 not out and earlier picked up four Horton House wickets for 52 runs.