Dammit! Binnion out for 102, and the dangerman James is bowling again! Come on CECC, we should win this from here, don't let it slip!

Aww:

32.1 WReeson to Binnion Straightforward outside edge into Swailes's gloves.

Still, the required rate is around 4.5 and our current rate is about 5.9, hopefully we'll be fine.

Arggh! Midworth is as stodgy as Boycott, he keeps playing defensive shot after defensive shot when we need to keep the scoreboard ticking along with ones and twos! He's scoring at under 3 an over, if he keeps that up, we'll lose but still have 7 wickets left!

Oh no

36.2 WFear to Midworth didn't get anything on that one, and is struck cleanly on the pad. The umpire has no hesitation in giving him out LBW.

Well, a decent contribution (45) from Midworth after bowling 10 overs. We need Leader and Fife to get in and consolidate before the final overs.

Oh dear, we're behind the rate now, need some big overs, and soon:


End of Over 38: 200-4, runrate=5.26, reqrunrate=5.58 (266-5)

Excellent, Leader is really going for it, 12 from the last over!

End of Over 44: 240-4, runrate=5.45, reqrunrate=4.50 (266-5)
Fear 10-1-63-1

Fife* 13 (20 balls)
Leader 33 (37 balls)

Last Wicket: Midworth lbw b. Fear 45 (FOW: 195/4)

43.6 1Fear to Fife Smacked back down the pitch, Fear takes some pace off of it so it's just a single.
43.5 .Fear to Fife Fullish ball outside off stump, leans well forward, shouldering arms through to Swailes
43.4 .Fear to Fife Stroked to cover, no run.
43.3 1Fear to Leader A sprawling dive at extra cover turned what seemed certain to be a boundary into only one. Great fielding!
43.2 6Fear to Leader lovely clean strike over Fear, that'll come down with snow on it!
43.1 4Fear to Leader picked the gap, solid stroke down to a vacant cows corner and the boundary as result

Yes! Leader's socking it to them! We're back ahead of the run rate and only need to keep the singles going now to win the game, and we've seen off key bowler James, without him taking a wicket! I think it might have been a good thing for Midworth to have lost his wicket at that stage, the lads have really accelerated the run rate since he departed!

Fife gone but we're still in with a good shout:

End of Over 45: 244-5, runrate=5.42, reqrunrate=4.60 (266-5)
Whaley 8-0-41-2

Leader* 35 (39 balls)
Donnelly 0 (0 balls)

Last Wicket: Fife c. Swailes b. Whaley 15 (FOW: 244/5)

44.6 WWhaley to Fife nipped back, went for the pull, fine edge as Swailes and Whaley appeals like one man, the Umpire sending him back to the changerooms

16 from the over! Leader is a perfect middle order bat. 5 to win.

...and Donnelly wins it with a 6 and a single!

Binnion had to be the man of the match with his 102, but Leader's unbeaten 46 from 44 balls, and a quickfire 8 from 3 balls from Donnelly saved the day after we were pegged back.

267 - 5! Yes, a wonderful win for CECC! Will this take them top-of-the-table? They'll certainly be moving up the charts! Great batting from Binnion (102 off 90 balls) and Leader (46 off 44 balls), ably supported by a swashbuckling innings from Donnelly (8 off 3 balls!) at the end and anchoring roles from Midworth and Fife!

Well, the latest news is that 2nd placed Keswick Bees thumped Scotland by 9 wickets with 30 overs remaining. This means Keswick will go to the top of the league, followed by CECC!

CECC play Keswick in a fortnight - that game should decide the destiny of the league title!