Solia sixes seal win that fires Sleaford back into title chase
Sleaford’s first team steadied themselves at precisely the right moment on Saturday, ending a run of fragile batting displays with a composed six-wicket victory over Bracebridge Heath that keeps them firmly in touch with the Lincolnshire Premier League Premier Division leaders.
Bracebridge Heath, asked to bat first, were dismissed for 148 in 46 overs, Benjamin Whitehouse making 39 and AJ Cook 36 before Sleaford’s bowlers tightened their grip.
Matthew Mills was the most incisive, taking 4-21, while Kieran Harbron added 2-21 in a disciplined collective effort.
The chase was notable not merely for its success but for its certainty.
Sleaford reached 153-4 in 32.5 overs, Sean Solia striking a brisk 65 from 49 balls and sealing the win with consecutive sixes.
Mills completed an excellent all-round match with 29, and the result leaves Sleaford only seven points behind Scunthorpe, with a clear gap now opening between the top three and the rest.
If the first team’s afternoon offered reassurance, the second team’s day at Alford in the Bob Welton Cup brought rather more mixed emotions.
They began by beating Bracebridge Heath by five wickets, chasing 119 with room to spare after their opponents had made 118-5 from 20 overs.
Josh McGowan, with 36, and Reuben Sansoa-Twell, with 32, gave Bracebridge Heath a platform, but George Bulmer’s 2-18 and tidy support from the rest of the attack, kept the target within reach. Harry Bailey then anchored Sleaford’s reply with 52, Oliver Sneath contributing 23 as Sleaford closed on 122-5 in 17.2 overs.
Their second match proved tighter and ultimately more frustrating.
Alford made 149-6, Andrew White falling one short of a half-century and Dennis Buirman adding 35, while Micah Young and James Bowlby each claimed two wickets.
In reply, Mackenzie Ross made 58 and Charlie Roberts 46, but Sleaford finished on 138-6, 11 runs short.
Sunday brought defeat for Sleaford Sunday second XI, who were beaten by four wickets away to Rustons in the Lincoln & District League Division Two.
Sleaford’s 169 all out in 32.3 overs owed much to Mackenzie Ross’s 56 and Ian Glendinning’s 45, but an innings that had promised more faded badly, not least after a damaging sequence of run-outs involving Glendinning.
Rustons were made to work but got home at 173-6 in 28.1 overs.
Muhammad Shamun led the chase with 65 and Muhammad Zeeshan added 33, while Ben Baxter’s 2-25 gave Sleaford something to defend before the hosts completed the win.
The women’s first team were involved in the most dramatic match of the weekend, but were left to reflect on an eight-wicket defeat at home to Belvoir in EMWCL Division Two North East after a contest that swung sharply from one side to the other.
Sleaford recovered from losing two wickets in the first over to post 233-4 from 30 overs, Alexia Page-Graves producing a magnificent 127 and finding the boundary with command and frequency. Millie Townend’s 35 gave important support, and the total looked a formidable one.
However, Belvoir recovered from early trouble of their own.
After losing two wickets, Hannah Roberts and Megan Jones produced an unbroken third-wicket stand of 229, Roberts making 111 and Jones 74 as the visitors reached 234-2 with one ball remaining.
Townend took 2-13, but Sleaford were left to rue a flat fielding display and 46 extras, including 21 byes, in only 30 overs.
It was, then, a weekend of encouragement and exasperation in familiar measure: the first team restoring authority, the seconds splitting their T20 day, the Sunday side paying for an innings left unfinished, and the women producing one outstanding century only to be met by another in an extraordinary chase.