Oundle, Desborough and Finedon double up in T20 Championship

Desborough Town celebrate a wicket during their win over Kislingbury in the Hevey Building Supplies NCL T20 Championship last weekend. Pictures by Finbarr Carroll

Playing at Brigstock’s home ground, The Meadow, alongside the hosts and Kislingbury Temperance, Desborough were convincing winners in both their matches.

Against Brigstock, Wayne Steed’s 64 from 54 balls helped get Desborough to 152-8 and they then bowled the home side out for 115 with Tom Swann (35) being the only batsman to really get going as Corey Young (3-12) was the pick of the bowlers.

Desborough were just as convincing against Kislingbury with Sam Harris taking 4-28 as Temperance were kept to 124-7 before Steed (45no) and Zaakir Khawaja (34no) put on an unbeaten stand of 107 to get the job done in 16 overs.

Kislingbury wicketkeeper Rob Collins goes up for an appeal against Brigstock

It was a winless day for Brigstock as the other match went the way of Kislingbury, who recorded their third victory of the tournament.

Batting first, Zeshan Arif (42) and Suk Singh (36) got Brigstock to 145-6 but Kislingbury chased that down with eight balls to spare thanks, mainly, to Fabid Ahmed’s unbeaten 66 from 45 balls.

Over at Bretton Gate, it was very much Oundle’s day as they beat local rivals Peterborough Town and Geddington in their two matches.

Geddington’s Matt Taylor struck 75 from 54 balls as they posted a decent total of 161-5.

The final wicket falls in Desborough’s win over Brigstock

But Oundle made short work of the chase, needing just 12.2 overs as Mark Hodgson (69 from 26 balls), Tom Norman (40 from 27) and Conor Craig (34 from 17) went to town.

Opening batsmen Norman (54) and Hodgson (52) were at it again as they helped their side to an imposing 185-6 against Peterborough.

And while Chris Milner (69no) batted throughout for the hosts in the reply, they fell well short on 132-6 with Primesh Patel taking 3-16 from his four overs.

Peterborough did pick up the victory against Geddington.

Mohammed Danyaal (41) and Kyle Medcalf (39) were the main contributors in Peterborough’s 153-8 and a tough day for Geddington was completed as they restricted to 110-8 in reply with Andrew Reynoldson cracking 40 while the rest struggled against Karanpal Singh (4-18).

Finedon enjoyed two wins at two different venues.

At Old Northamptonians, they restricted the hosts to 104-7 in 20 overs and Dolben knocked them off for the loss of just three wickets in reply as Dan Bendon (45no) and Drew Brierley (37) led the way.

It was a similar story at Overstone Park who could only post 96-7 with Dan Webb (37no) their main contributor as Brierley took 3-15 from four overs.

And Dolben got to the target on 100-4 with Sean Davis carrying his bat for 40 after putting on 55 for the first wicket with Callum Berrill (22).

Rushden & Higham also played at both venues and their day started with a thrilling two-run win at Overstone.

Shiv Patel (40) was the main run-getter as Rushden posted 128-7 and then, in a thrilling chase, Overstone fell short on 126-9 as Tom Firm’s spell of 4-18 proved decisive.

Rushden did lose at ON’s, however. Liam Gough (47) and Sam Kuma (27) scored well in Rushden’s 126-3 but the home side got to 127-6 with two overs to spare thanks to Aum Raykar’s knock of 33.

After two rounds of matches, Finedon are one of four teams who are sitting on nine points. Desborough Town are top with Finedon, Kislingbury and Oundle Town tucked in behind them.

Old Northamptonians and Peterborough Town come next with two wins apiece while Geddington, Overstone Park and Rushden & Higham Town have just one victory to their names ahead of the third round of matches this weekend.