Sutton back to winning ways

Long Sutton bounced back to winning ways with a fine win over Orton Park to remain top of the South Lincs and Border League Championship.

Sutton held their nerve and chased down 205 while seven wickets down after slipping to 124 for 5 at one stage.
Jacob Gray and Dom Clay were the eventual heroes after Calvin Bird (23) and Nathan Oliver (18) put on 59 for the first wicket.
Number three Dan Oldfield’s 39 off 32 helped get Sutton above the required rate, but they kept losing wickets which kept Orton interested.
Gray and Clay though put on 53 for the sixth wicket and though Gray fell for 27 and Barry Stanway for 2 with 25 still needed, Charlie Crisp hit two fours and a six in his 18 not out to see Sutton to victory.
Clay finished on 34 not out.
Earlier in the day there had been two wickets each for Sutton bowlers Stanway (2 for 20), captain Jake Burton (2 for 29), Josh Baker (2 for 41) and Crisp (2 for 57).
Long Sutton 2nd XI were also victorious over their counterparts at Orton Park in Division Two inspired by an impressive showing by the bowlers.
Joe Whitaker took 3 for 6 from seven overs, Steve Norris 3 for 13 from 7.2, Daniel Plant 2 for 24 and Rob Simpson 2 for 31 as Orton’s second string were bowled out for 76 in the 33rd over.
Sutton reached that total in just 14.1 overs despite losing Dinesh Elangovan to a first ball duck with fellow opener Aaron John scoring 18 and Zack Rowlett 30 in 23 balls.
A flurry of wickets late on left Sutton six down as Jack Baker (8 not out) and Whitaker (7 not out) took them to the win.
There was a 92-run defeat for Sutton’s Sunday 1st XI at Whittlesey in Rutland League Division Two.
Batting first Whittlesey were not hanging around and smashed 230 in 31.2 overs.
Josh Fox top scored for them with 73, just three of which didn’t come from boundaries as he hit ten fours and five sixes.
It was despite Calvin Bird (1 for 79) and Paul Edgeller (2 for 45) picking up two early wickets.
The star for Sutton with ball though was Gray who took 5 for 33 from seven overs.
Long Sutton too scored at quicker than a run a ball, but they continually lost wickets and were 138 out in the 23rd over.
Despite seven batsmen making starts and reaching double figures, Edgeller still top scored with 22.
Sutton remain top of the table but have had their lead cut to eight points.
In Division Four East there was a win for Long Sutton’s Sunday 2nd XI at Royal Strikers of Peterborough.
After being asked to field first, their bowlers got on top reducing the hosts to 97 for 8.
Alastair Drohan took 4 for 38, Andy Shaw 3 for 18 and there were wickets too for Faz Mukhtar (1 for 47) and Luke Barwell (1 for 32).
But Strikers’ number 10 counter attacked impressively hitting 49 not out from 54 balls and aided by 11 from number 11 Manu Matthew, the home side were able to reach 178 for 9 at the end of their overs.
It was a total Sutton reached with four overs and six wickets in hand.
Opener Luke Barwell scored 32 to set them on their way, but they were led home by a fine partnership between Drohan (47 not out) and Arjun Odedra (49 not out) who timed the chase perfectly to seal the win.