Boldon back on top of the league
BOLDON returned to the top of the Durham Senior League after a thrilling victory at Burnmoor on Saturday.
Batting first, Boldon quickly found themselves at 6-2 after just three overs. Chris Ellison was dubiously adjudged lbw to the bowling of Abdeen, and Nick Sampson-Barnes was dismissed by Matthew Jane.
Any hopes of a middle order recovery were ruined when Geoff Houmark and James Coyne were both out for single figure scores, leaving Boldon struggling at 26-4.
Matthew Sampson-Barnes and Shaun Bradbury kept the strong Burnmoor attack at bay, hauling Boldon back to 55-5, but the wicket of Bradbury, the second contentious lbw decision of the afternoon, set off a Boldon collapse which reduced Chris Ellison's side to 79-9.
Matthew Sampson-Barnes's 29 held the innings together in what was an unusually subdued knock from the 18-year-old left-hander.
A 10th-wicket stand of 31 between Michael Bittlestone (12) and Phil Shakespeare (19 not out), the second-highest partnership of the match, was a recovery of sorts.
But Boldon were disappointed to be bowled out for just 110, failing to register any batting bonus points from the innings.
Burnmoor's extraordinary innings began rather unremarkably, with Jimmy Daley, in typical fashion, blocking five balls of the first over and belting the sixth for four.
What followed, however, was one of the most dramatic batting collapses most of the players could ever remember.
Owen Lancaster was the first to go, clean bowled by Shakespeare for a duck, one of five in the Burnmoor innings, but progress was steady at 22-1.
Eight overs later, it was 31-9 as Burnmoor lost eight wickets for nine runs.
Shakespeare and Sura Malinga did the damage with the ball for Boldon, with all of the first nine Burnmoor batsmen falling for single figures – only Daley and Mark Robson contributed a boundary.
Shakespeare, who took four of his wickets without conceding a run, ended with the outstanding figures of 6-38.
Abdeen and Conn met at the wicket with the score at 31-9, and compiled 49, the highest stand of the match, with Abdeen contributing 29 and Conn 14.
The partnership frustrated Boldon somewhat, but Michael Bittlestone trapped Abdeen lbw, bowling Burnmoor out for 80 and sealing a Boldon victory.
Boldon's second XI drew with Burnmoor in a dramatic match at Sunderland Road. Gareth Smith's side posted a total of 236-4, with McCord, Lamb and Forster all passing 50.
Burnmoor's reply was going well, with the score at 128-3 at the start of the last hour, but three wickets for Anthony Brown, as well as a frugal second spell from Graham Fox, saw Burnmoor close on 230-9, with just seven runs or one wicket required for either side to claim a crucial victory.
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Weather for South Shields
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 7 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
