Stony come up just short of win

Stony sit bottom of the Northants League Premier Division with four defeats in a row, but came within 25 runs in their most recent outing.

Nick Allen won the toss and elected to field first, and it looked as though it might be a good decision.

Finedon got off to a good start as the openers put on 60 for the first wicket, but batsmen came and went regularly after that.

While three Finedon batsmen made it into the 40s, Graham Simpson was the star for the home side as he took 4-58, limiting the visitors to 227-8.

Stony’s reply though got off to a bad start with the loss of Praveen Chandran for just 1.

Wickets fell at regular intervals throughout the innings, but runs were being added at a good rate, leaving Stony with a great chance of taking the all-illusive victory.

Opener James Pickles scored well with 42, but a middle order wobble left Stony on the back foot at 111-6.

Bringing Alex Strong to the crease, he hit a vital 58 to bring the home side back into contention. But when he fell at 183-7 run out, the writing was on the wall for Stony as they came up 25 runs short, bowled out for 202.

Stony are bottom of the league, four points behind Wellingborough.