2XI Match Report v Guisborough 2XI
Bishop Auckland 2nd XI entertained promotion chasing Guisborough 2nd XI at Kingsway. Winning the toss Davy Jacobs gave Guisborough first chance to bat on a bright sunny afternoon. Evergreen Graham Shaw opened the batting and anchored the Guisborough innings scoring a solid 78 before being bowled by James Holliday. The other top six Guisborough all reached double figures but tight consistent bowling by the Bishops attack continually took wickets and kept the scoring rate to a manageable level. The wickets were shared across the four mainline bowlers with youngsters Thomas Stones and James Holliday being the pick of the attack with two wickets each. Guisborough ending their allotted forty overs at 207-7.
Bishops run chase stuttered from the off with the top three batters finding themselves back in the pavilion at 36-3. David Taylor’s arrival at the crease stabilised the innings but he received limited support from the middle order with wily experienced spinner Steve Donlan presenting difficulties to most batters culminating in a hat trick reducing Bishops to 78-8 with 14 overs remaining. Into the breach came young James Dowson who rose to the challenge of supporting the well-set Taylor. This pairing of youth and experience frustrated the Guisborough attack for the remaining overs showing great resilience to complete the forty overs for a well-deserved draw with Taylor ending 71 No and his young partner Dowson 24no with Bishops ending at 161-8.
Scorecard https://bishopauckland.play-cricket.com/website/results/5169945
2XI Match Report v Newton Aycliffe
Bishop Auckland 2nd XI made the short trip to Newton Aycliffe to play their seconds in a Bank Holiday local derby. Newly appointed captain won his third consecutive toss and chose to bat on what looked a good batting surface. Openers David Robinson and Neil Bancroft made a sound start against the pace of Slatcher and tantalising leg spin of Thomas Dearden. Bancroft (12) eventually fell been caught off Dearden. In came Jacob Dinger who got full value for his shots with a lightning-fast outfield he reached 68 with 11 fours and one monstrous six before been caught in the deep. Ably supporting Dinger was opener David Robinson who when reaching 19 achieved his 1000 runs for the season, Robinson finally succumbing for 41. Coming up the order at No4 after his heroics on Saturday came James Dowson who hit an accomplished 31 before getting a leading edge to the talented Dearden. The Bishops innings then stuttered a little until Joe Robinson arrived at crease hitting 4 fours and a six plus accumulating singles with excellent running to reach 28 No and pushing Bishops to 223-7 in their 40 overs.
Newton Aycliffe immediately found themselves under the cosh with David Robinson taking two early wickets. However, the precocious Dearden and Joe Teasdale raised the tempo taking Aycliffe past the 100 mark. The introduction of left arm spinner brought immediate reward for Bishops breaking up the third wicket partnership with young spinner James Holliday bowling in tandem with Dinger they ripped through the remaining Newton Aycliffe batters with them capitulating to 152 all out. Jacob ending with the impressive figures of 6-45 and James taking 2-19.The bowling was extremely well supported in the field together with a masterclass behind the stumps by Joe Robinson. A well-deserved victory with the 2nd’s showing a much-needed level of consistency and sound all round performance.
Scorecard https://bishopauckland.play-cricket.com/website/results/5170190
