Premiership
Peel & St John’s have won the Isle of Man Premiership. On Saturday Cronkbourne were defeated by Castletown and so, with only one game left, cannot overtake the Saints at the top of the table. The Tromode bowlers had done a fine job in dismissing the Town for only 94 in 33 overs. Sam Mills took 4 -13 and there were two wickets each for Jason Antrobus and Max Stokoe. Matt Ansell’s eight overs cost only 14 runs and six of the batsmen were clean bowled. Phil Littlejohns was the top scorer with 33 from 58 balls.
In reply Cronkbourne lost an early wicket, but Sam Mills and Nathan Knights took the total to 38 for 1 before disaster struck. Needing just 56 runs with nine wickets in hand, the side fell to the bowling by Seb Hopkins and Tom Kennaugh. Both Knights and Mills made 17, but six of the remaining batsmen failed to score. Hopkins ended with the splendid figures of 5 -21 from his eight overs while Kennaugh returned 4 -11. Cronkbourne were finally dismissed for 60 in 17 overs. This was Castletown’s sixth Premiership win of the season and lifts them into second place in the league.
Blincoe Cup
Valkyres will play Peel and St John’s in the final of the Blincoe Cup. In Saturday’s semi-finals, Valkyres beat the Isle of Man Schools Eleven by nine wickets while the Saints had a narrow victory at Crosby. After winning the toss, the Scholars chose to field at Mullen-e-Cloie and did well to restrict the score to 136 for 8. Mohammed Salman struck an excellent 34 and Abdul Khan cracked a lively 27 not out. The Schools had an opening stand of 35, but, when Salman trapped George Burrows, wickets began to tumble. Eddie Beard hit out for 31, but the side were dismissed for 103.
Facing a first innings deficit of 33, the Scholars threw caution to the wind and promoted their big hitters to the top of the order. At first the plan worked and within two overs they were level. James Harrison had blasted 20 from ten balls when he was caught by Chris Langford off the bowling of spinner Andy Coulson. He then went on to wreck the Schools’ hopes with a great spell of bowling. Off his allotted two overs, Coulson returned 4 -15 including the key wicket of skipper Beard who perished for a very quick 31. The side finished on 145 which left Valkyres needing 113 to win. This time there was to be no collapse as Paul Fleming (52) and Shahid Rafique (50) guided the team home for the loss of one wicket.
At Marown, Crosby made a good start by scoring 153 for 5 with Kevin Kniveton making an excellent 85 not out. However, the Saints replied with 183 to take a lead of 30. Crosby fought back and bowled out their opponents for only 67 in the second innings. That left Crosby needing 98 runs in their final innings to take the tie. In a dramatic final, they narrowly lost, ending on 91 for 9 to lose by just six runs.
The final is on Saturday, 20 August at a venue to be agreed between the clubs.
Junior Cricket
The Island Under 11s played three games in the first two days of the Malvern Festival.
On Friday they met Gloucestershire who scored 240 for 7 from 40 overs. Jenson Eve, Nathan Williams, Fraser Clarke, Michael Webber and David Sargent all took wickets. Harry McAleer led a spirited Manx reply with an impressive 52 from 48 balls, including 11 boundaries. Luke Parry hit 40 and Joseph Humphrey 27, but the team fell short on 183.
The next day saw victory in a T20 match against Pembrokeshire. The team recovered from a perilous 34 for 5 to reach 122 for 9, led by a very good 44 from skipper Dolin Jansen. Two run outs and two wickets from Nathan Williams then reduced Pembroke to 10 for 4. Reece Power made 36 not out from 60 balls as the Welsh reached 85 for 8 from their 20 overs. There were two wickets also for Dolin Jansen and Michael Webber as the IOM swept to a 37 run victory.
The second T20 fixture saw Norfolk make 121 for 5 with Williams (2 -18) and David Sargent (2 -12) on target. Then Harry McAleer knocked 20 and James Weight 16no as the Manx finished on 94 for 7, to lose by 27 runs.
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