Alfreton CC vs Sawley CC (H) 01/05/21

By Tom Pawelski

The 1st XI returned to the Asha Oval on Saturday and made it a hat trick of wins to start the season.

Captain Simpson won the toss and elected to bat first against Sawley who had struggled for early season runs. The wicket looked like it may offer some assistance to seam and swing but scoreboard pressure in the 2nd innings had proven to be the backbone of Alfreton’s dominance in the first two fixtures of 2021.

A shaky start for Alfreton saw the early dismissals of New, New and Zaroob all before the scoreboard had reached 50. Alfreton had lost 4 more wickets before the scoreboard had moved to 100 and it seemed as though the Black and Gold were staring down the barrel of their first defeat in 11 games. Crucially, Simpson remained steadfast at the crease. Ably supported by Aldis, Alfreton gained some much needed momentum towards the back end of the innings and some audacious hitting from J. New at number 10 catapulted Alfreton to 187 much to the dismay of a shell shocked Sawley bowling unit. Simpson finished the innings 43 not out with New just managing to outscore his captain with the last ball of the innings, ramped over the Sawley wicket keeper for 4 runs.

The momentum was firmly with Alfreton at the break and the bowlers piled the pressure on a Sawley batting line up that wilted under the pressure of a run chase. Sawley limped from 33-6 to 86 all out without any meaningful resistance to a ruthless Alfreton bowling and fielding display. Not to be outdone by Bramwell, who had taken a stunning one handed catch at cover, Aldis grabbed one of his own at gully as Alfreton made a statement to the rest of the division that they were not to be counted out of any difficult situations. The pick of the bowling – J. New with a 5 wicket haul delivered from 12 consecutive overs which left him sprawling on the turf in cramp as he appealed for his final wicket of the day.

Another confident display from Alfreton keeps them as 1 of 3 early pace setters in division 1. Alfreton will look to keep up the charge with a visit to Lullington Park next weekend.