Lutterworth edge ahead in title race
Tue 18 Aug 2015
Lutterworth gained an advantage in the Leicestershire and Rutland Premier League title race at the weekend.
While Lutterworth landed a full 30-point victory against Thorpe Arnold, Kibworth had to settle for a losing draw as Leicester Ivanhoe put in a terrific performance.
Craig Wilson (60) and Matt Pickering (49) were the leading scorers as Lutterworth put 249-8 on the board and Thorpe were bowled out for 71 as Adam Burton and Nathan Welham each picked up four wickets.
In the game of the day, Academy player Sam Evans (78) and Eben Kurtz (41), who has played well for Leicestershire Second XI this summer, shared 135 for the first wicket to get Ivanhoe off to a good start. Steve Punchard then scored 75 not out as Ivanhoe closed on 296-5.
Matt Craven and Pite van Biljoen both scored centuries as part of a terrific second wicket partnership of 178 and Kibworth were 229-1 with eleven overs to go. But Ivanhoe, led by Niall Lafferty’s 4-36, pegged the visitors back to 292-7.
Kibworth took 13 points from the thrilling game and are now 23 points behind Lutterworth but the two teams still have to meet for a second time this season.
Sileby are now clear in third following a maximum-point haul against a Barrow Town side who have also been among the pacesetters this term. There were a number of contributions in a score of 212 all out, including Liam Kinch (49) and Jigar Naik (22).
Naik then took 3-13 from a probing spell and Academy bowler Joe Clarke claimed 2-32 as Barrow were dismissed for 95.
The day’s highest scorers were Rothley, who scored 309-6 against Kegworth. Irfan Karim (80), Richard Williams (60), Sam Ward (57) and Adam Hackett (38) were all in the runs.
Several batsmen chipped in for a Kegworth side that dug in to post 249-7 to claim a share of the spoils.
Hinckley Town/CCA edged to victory last weekend but were on the wrong side of the ledger this time around. The home side scored 170-9 and Syston nudged home with four balls to spare by two wickets, their fifth successive win.
There was another close game at Market Harborough as Loughborough scored 214-9 and Harborough closed on 191-9 after Kevin Innes’ 70.
