Bates Cottages CC endure mixed fortunes against Alnwick CC

Bates Cottages CC’s first and second teams once again endured mixed fortunes on Saturday afternoon. Both sides came up against Alnwick CC, with the first XI travelling to Weavers Way and the second team hosting on home soil.

For the firsts, captain Liam Khan won the toss and elected to have a bat. Bates Cottages made a strong start, with Sam Biggs and Ryan Coetzee opening and putting 76 on the board before both fell in consecutive overs - Coetzee on 46 and Biggs on 24.

From there, Martin Golightly, Gavin Turnbull, and Khan took the visitors to 140 before a flurry of wickets. With the last three batters not troubling the scoring, Bates Cottages finished on 153 all out in the 41st over.

After the break, Alnwick, with a modest total to chase, paced their innings well and didn’t take too many risks, only losing two wickets by the time the score hit 85, and only four wickets in the chase overall before getting over the line in the 37th over. Khan took two wickets for Bates Cottages, while Sai Donkana and Coetzee claimed one each.

It was a different story at for the second team, however. Alnwick won the toss and asked their hosts to bat, with Bates Cottages setting off at a brisk pace - Andrew Jordan and Thomas Coats opened, and were on 64 by the loss of the first wicket. Kevin Golightly came in at three and top-scored with 63 as Bates Cottages set a solid total of 190/4 from their 40 overs.

After the interval, the home side took to the field and made some early inroads into Alnwick’s batting line-up, with the visitors 28/4 by the eighth over. The visitors then rallied to 72 before Leighton O’Brien took Bates Cottages’ fifth wicket and the rest fell in quick succession. Alnwick were all out for 90 in the 20th over. O’Brien and Faraz Ihsan claimed three wickets each, while Ashton O'Brien took another two.