Alfreton crumble to league leaders

Alfreton Cricket Club fell to the bottom of the Derbyshire Premier League after a loss at the hands of league leaders Ockbrook & Borrowash.

Ockbrook were asked to bat first, ending on 231-8, a total too far for the visitors as they fell for 146.

At the start of the day, Alfreton started brilliantly, Richard Briggs (2-41) removing Matthew Cassar and Alistair Dixon with only 20 on the board.

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Joshua Clarke (50) and Corrie Keable (38) rebuilt after the early losses, sharing in a 67-run stand. However, when Callum Spencer (2-34) and Ben Slater entered the fray, Alfreton had a sniff of bowling the home side out cheaply.

Spencer removed Clarke and Trevor Smith before Ben Slater had Jack Ratcliffe caught behind for nine. And when captain Alex Mace ran out Keable, Ockbrook found themselves teetering on 114-6.

The home side tail end had a lot of work to do and they frustrated the Alfreton bowlers to push their side past 200.

A 50 from Jacob Conners (51) as well as good knocks from Nick Birds (32) and Daniel Corcoran (24*) meant Alfreton were chasing 232 to win, a total they didn’t expect to be chasing just an hour earlier.

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Alfreton’s reply got off to the worse possible start, Kevin Dean and Corcoran removing openers Anthony Mosca and Mark Stokes with only three on the board.

Ryan Bramwell and John Aspinall ensured 50 were on the board before the next wicket fell, but when it did a collapse began to take shape.

Dean returned to removed Bramwell (20) and Mace (4) before Trevor Smith took the wickets of Aspinall (33) and Jake Simpson (0) to reduce the score to 73-6.

Thomas Bentley and Elliot Savidge rescued the total 100 but Alfreton were already staring down the brink of defeat.

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Bentley (24) was Liam Wharton’s first of three wickets, the fast bowler returning to take the final two wickets.

In between that, Savidge remained strong on 31 not out but ran out of partners as the away side were bowled out for 148, losing by 83.

Marehay’s win pushed Alfreton to bottom of the table, the next opponents to the Impact Oval being the side that Marehay defeated, Spondon on Saturday.