End to Barnard Castle’s Premier 100 bid

NYSD Premier 100 semi-final Barnard Castle v Middlesbrough

Barnard Castle’s bid to win the Premier 100 ended at the semi-final stage this week.

On a wonderful evening for cricket, Barney won the toss and elected to bat against Middlesbrough.

And they looked to have made the right decision when big-hitting openers Richard Borrowdale and Adam

Bainbridge put on 78 from 36 balls.

But then Bainbridge went for 55 and Finn Usher fell for a golden duck with the very next ball. Borrowdale eventually made 89 off 41 balls and Barney finished on a very competitive 203-6.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t sufficient. Middlesbrough put on 178 for the first wicket and Jack Whittle (78 off 40 balls) was the man to go but his fellow opener Rhys Ditta finished unbeaten on 110 not out from 49 balls and Joe Gaudie added 12 as Boro won by nine wickets with seven balls to spare.

Barney 203-6 (100 balls) lost to Middlesbrough 204-1 (93 balls) by 7 wickets

NYSD Premier Division Barnard Castle v Bishop Auckland

Barnard Castle endured a frustrating afternoon against struggling Bishop Auckland as rivals Richmondshire closed the gap at the top of the table.

Reigning champions Barney were held to a draw after failing to bowl out the visitors. James Quinn scored 90 after the home side won the toss and elected to bat.

Barney were at one stage 106-2 but failed to make significant runs further down the order as Australian Brandon Lusk cleaned out the tail to finish with figures of 5-26.

Bishop dropped anchor and were determined to hold out for a draw. The appropriately named Charlie Scorer set the tone, adding 43 but using up 134 balls.

The ninth wicket finally fell with the last ball of the 51st over, giving Barney 24 balls to win the game.

But tail-enders Scott Oldfield and Kenzie Peakman blocked pretty-much everything Karl Carver and Suminda Lakshan could test them with in the final four overs, which went for just two runs and a wide.

Lakshan finished with 4-30 to continue his good run of form while Rob West took 3-51.

Richmond are now 10points behind Barney after beating Stockton seven wickets.

The battle for top spot resumes tomorrow (Saturday) with Barney hosting Saltburn and Richmond travelling to Stokesley.

Barney 219 all out (44.2 overs) drew with Bishop Auckland 166-9 (55 overs).

Division One Thornaby v Barnard Castle II

Struggling Barney Seconds turned the form book on its head by recording an impressive win over promotion-chasing Thornaby.

Skipper Richard Watson led by example, taking 5-58 and scoring a century to bring some much-needed cheer to his embattled team. He also took a brilliant diving one-handed catch at backward point.

Australian all-rounder Archer Byrne was also among the wickets, taking 4-46 as Thornaby scored 252-9 declared.

They presumably thought they had enough runs but Will Poole scored 70 and Watson 105 not out while Joe Rutherford scored the winning runs with an over to spare.

Barney Seconds remain bottom of the Division One table 30 points from safety but the win will be a welcome confidence booster in what’s turning out to be a tough season.

Thornaby 252-9 declared (44 overs) lost to Barney Seconds 253-5 (54.4 overs) by 5 wickets.

Sunday Conference North Barnard Castle III v Yarm III

Ben Usher’s unbeaten 96 helped Barney Thirds post 288-6 against Yarm. The player-coach scored his runs off just 57 balls in a knock that included 13 fours and five sixes.

But Usher will have been just as pleased to see the club’s next generation contributing with the bat as Will Poole (64) and Joe Rutherford (54) scored half centuries.

Rutherford was also among the wickets, taking 4-20, while Finlay Kirkup picked up 3-22 as Yarm Thirds were bowled out for 139.

Barney Thirds 288-6 (40 overs) bt Yarm Thirds 139 all out (29 overs) by 149 runs.

NYSD Women’s Hardball 100 Barnard Castle v Richmondshire

Barney recorded a convincing victory in this week’s Hardball 100 fixtures.

Asked to bat by Richmond, the hosts scored 128 with contributions from Neve Crisp (24 off 16 balls), Libby Merryweather (32no) and Zara Martin (28no off 19 balls). Tight bowling from Tudor (1-19), Harriett Robson (2-25), Georgie Robson and Emily Greves restricted Richmond to 94-3.

The result leaves Barney second in the table with a game in hand on leaders Norton.

Barney 128-3 (100 balls) bt Richmond 94-3 (100 balls) by 34 runs.

Division One Hundred, quarter-final Barnard Castle II v Great Ayton

Rapid runs were the order of the day as Barney Seconds won through to the semi-finals of the Division One Hundred.

Adam Bainbridge smashed 39 off 16 balls, Chris Dodson 31 off 18, Archer Byrne 68 off 30 and Rob Dixon 24 not out off 14 as Barney Seconds totalled 197-7.

Despite 76 off 46 balls from opener Jon Grainge, Great Ayton could only manage 153-7 with Peter Stanwix taking 3-27 and Will Poole 2-38.

Barney Seconds 197-7 (100 balls) bt Great Ayton 153-7 (100 balls) by 44 runs.

Junior 100 (U17), second round Barnard Castle U17 v Richmondshire U17

Barney U17s overcame the holders to reach the last eight of the Junior 100, writes Ian Rutherford.

On another glorious evening, Richmond won the toss and elected to bat. Against a top quality top order, wickets were going to be key for Barney.

None more so than Durham Academy product Bertie Morris who had serenely moved to 16 before being cleaned up by a beauty from Toby Gent. Gent, who had taken some persuading to bowl his more than useful seamers, produced four magical five-ball overs to take 3-12.

Richmond were motoring at the halfway stage at 83-2.

This all changed with an excellent 10-ball spell from Will Poole’s wily leg spin. He trapped visiting skipper Raam Raj LBW for 24 then bowled and caught hard-hitting Jake Wright for 22.

A tight spell from Finlay Kirkup and a wicket for Joe Rutherford meant Richmond limped to 128 from their 100 balls.

Openers Jack Dalton and Will Poole started well but with the score on 47, Dalton was superbly run out by Wright for 27. Oli Greves (23) and Poole (37) then batted with style and Barney only required 23 from 21 balls when both were dismissed in successive deliveries.

A couple of tight overs followed and suddenly it was 15 needed from 10. Gent hit a boundary then was out, as was Jack Bailey the very next ball.

However, an audacious scoop for four from Rory Metcalf and mature batting from Joe Rutherford saw Barney clinch victory from the final ball of the match.

Setting up a home quarter-final against Norton.

Barney U17 129-5 (100 balls) bt Richmond U17 128-7 (100 balls).