Swarkie’s Ben has Dunstall back in the Hutch
CHAMPIONS Swarkestone began their quest for a third successive Beechwood Mazda Derbyshire Premier Division title with all-rounder Ben Hutchinson in fine form as they recorded a comfortable win over Dunstall.
Hutchinson took the first five wickets to reduce Dunstall to 47-5 after they had been put in.
The first saw Alec Mason caught behind by Harvey Hosein but Dan Wildman, Ben Whitehouse, Tomlinson and Aidan Brodrick were all comprehensively bowled, the first three of those for ducks.
New captain Tom Hill engineered some sort of recovery for his side, battling his way to 46 from 84 balls before being the ninth man out.
Opener Oliver Wallace had stuck around for 24 from 79 balls and Dunstall were not bowled out, as they reached 165-9 from their 50 overs.
Any thoughts that they might have enough to put some pressure on Swarkestone were soon extinguished as Tom Hamilton and Ajay Khunti put on 73 for the first wicket.
Archie Chambers bowled Khunti for 21 and Alec Mason bowled Harvey Hosein for one, then Chambers had Hamilton leg before for 51 to make it 78-3.
That was as good as it got for Dunstall, as Hutchinson joined Ross Whiteley to see Swarkestone home without further loss.
Hutchinson helped himself to 56 not out from 31 balls, with five fours and four sixes, while Whiteley was on 22.
The batting issues which dogged Rolleston last season continued as they fell 51 runs short chasing the 175 posted by promoted Belper Meadows.
Alex Brown supplied another miserly opening spell as Rolleston chose to bowl, taking 4-18 from 12 overs.
Reham Azam weighed in with 3-41 and there was a wicket each for Graham Dent and Hishaam Khan.
However, Rolleston’s reply was soon in trouble at 22-3, with Gareth Marshall gone for one, Richard Green run out for six and Khan, on debut, out for two.
Captain Tom Liversage responded with 60 from 111 balls and had some support from Sam Bates, with 212 and Ben Liversage, with 16, but wickets continued to tumble too regularly and the innings ended at 124.
Alrewas did well to bowl out Spondon for 135 after choosing to field.
Craig Swinfield dropped straight into the groove with 3-17 from 10 overs and Sam van Daesdonk took 3-30 from 9,5 overs, while there were two wickets each for William Hodgkinson and Will Smedley.
But it was a grim start with the bat for Alrewas as they slipped to 28-5 in reply, new signing Jahurul Islam starting with a seven-ball duck and Stephen Cole going first ball.
There was no way back and only Hodgkinson, with 26 and Smedley, whose 24 from 23 balls was all scored in sixes, held up Spondon for long.
Alrewas were bowled out for 105 in 33 overs.
Alvaston & Boulton cruised to a six-wicket win away to Ockbrook & Borrowash.
Ockbrook were put in and slipped to 43-4 before opener Ethan Berlusconi combined with Jake Conners to add 53.
Berlusconi was then out for 51 from 39 balls, with eight fours and a six and Conners followed on the same score for 15.
Ad Gagiano’s 29 from 27 balls was all that held up A&B from there as Azimullah Ahmadzai took 4-43 and Saad Sarwary 3-27. Ockbrook were all out for 140 in 29.4 overs.
In reply, A&B were forced to take their time by Ockbrook skipper Gareth Young’s remarkable spell of 2-2 from eight overs, six of which were maidens.
But Dustin Melton was going for
six an over at the other end and A&B had time on their side.
Chris McIlroy compiled 36 from 82 balls and though Garry Park went for two and Daanish Mehta for a debut third-ball duck, captain Tom Knight and Chris Durham saw A&B home from 92-4, Knight closing on 43 not out and Durham 22 not out.
Sawley were able to celebrate their return to the top division with a comfortable seven-wicket win over
Cutthorpe, bowling their visitors out for 68 in 29.3 overs.
It was Josh Glover who did most of the damage, taking 6-13 from 9.3 overs, while opening bowler Carl Cruz took the other four for 34 runs in 12 overs.
Glover’s wickets included bowling Derbyshire’s Samit Patel for four.
Opener Joe Bullimore stuck around for 31 from 46 balls and they initially reached 42 without loss but no-one else got into double figures and it was a procession thereafter.
Saqlain Bazmi and Gary Birley got Sawley’s innings off to a careful start, as well they might given that Patel opened the bowling.
He took 2-33 from 12 overs but after Bazmi went for 19 and Birley for 13, Kieran Pell eased Sawley home by seven wickets with 18 not out from 52 balls, the target reached in 26.5 overs.
After the gloom about the weather and although bowling conditions clearly held sway, there was only one ground in the division where a start could not be made, with the game between Denby and Sandiacre Town called off.