Seconds miss out in Trophy
Tue 30 Jun 2015
By Pete Johnson
Leicestershire Second XI lost their second Trophy game of the campaign by five wickets at Northamptonshire Second XI yesterday.
We arrived at Dunstable Town CC and were greeted by a hot summer’s day. The cricket ground at Dunstable is in the village of Tottenhoe.
The ground itself is bordered by the Dunstable Road to one end, and a discreet woodland area to the other. In the distance at the Dunstable End is a high plateau of land from which gliding planes from The London Gliding Club take off.
The Pavilion sits sideways on to the square, and the scorers are positioned on the first floor balcony, immediately outside the dressing rooms. The ground exudes an aura of peace and tranquillity.
Dan Redfern won the toss for Leicestershire and chose to bat. County lost wickets regularly and although the batsmen got a start, including Aadil Ali (16), Eben Kurtz (24), Michael Burgess (30), Zak Chappell (18) and Alex Kent (26), nobody posted a half-century.
The pick of the Northants bowlers was Tom Sole picking up 4-24 from 9.4 overs, ably supported by Saif Zaib 2-31 from 10 overs. Wicket keeper David Murphy picked up five victims, three caught and two stumped), and there were two run outs. County were all out for 164 from 44.4 overs.
Northants were never in a trouble chasing down the total and reached their target with 16 overs to spare with the loss of five wickets.
Akhil Patel (49) was top scorer, being run out by a direct hit from Aadil Ali. Zak Chappell picked up 2-36 from 6 overs and Rob Sayer, who opened the bowling, returned eye-catching figures of 1-28 from 8 overs.
