Newport captain Gareth Bricknell picked up 6 wickets as Newport beat beat St Helens by 8 wickets on the village green.
After winning the toss and with the pitch still being a little damp from the recent wet weather, captain Gareth Bricknell had no hesitation in choosing to field first.
St Helens’ opening pair Brown and Allen made a decent start for the hosts. Wilson and Hartup kept the bowling tight but were unable to make an early breakthrough. Ash Brett replaced Wilson at the pavilion end and – despite a loose start – he tempted Allen into an edged drive which Winchcombe took really well, low down, one handed behind the stumps.
Hartup was soon in on the action as he picked up a 1st deserved wicket after a good opening 8-over spell. Wilson returned to pick up a wicket himself, as did Giresh before skipper Bricknell bowled a superb innings-ending spell, taking 6 wickets for only 10 runs. His 6th wicket was the last St Helens batsman on the final ball of their innings.
St Helens were all out for 114 runs on a tricky surface with Brown making a half century before becoming one of the Newport captain’s 6 victims.
Newport openers Ash Brett and Kevin Winchcombe made a steady start, knowing they’d have to see out 16 overs from the dangerous Allen and Brown. They’d made it to the 13th over when Brett was bowled by an Allen slower ball for a watchful 10 runs.
Manu hit one of his 1st balls from Allen for a big 6 over wide long on, as he has a habit of doing, which caused a short delay while they searched for the ball in a garden hedge. Both Manu and Winchcombe started to find the boundary with regularity before Manu was bowled for a quick-fire 23.
That only brought last season’s highest run scorer to the crease, Tom Dye, and he quickly got into his stride hitting a rapid 33 not out with Kevin Winchcombe finishing on 42 not out, as Newport surpassed the St Helens total with several overs to spare.
St Helens 114 all out Newport118/2 Newport won by 8 wickets.
Report kindly supplied by Newport Cricket Club
In other Isle of Wight Cricket League games …
Northwood 1sts 224/6 Shanklin & Godshill 2nds 43 all out
In Division 1, Northwood beat Shanklin 2nds by 181 runs. Liam Roberts top-scored for Northwood with 63 with a further 60 coming from the bat of Chris Williams. Shanklin 2nds were skittled out for just 43 runs with Dan Ward the pick of the Northwood bowlers with 5-13.
Ventnor 3rds 187/7 Freshwater 191/8
Also in Division 1, Freshwater overcame Ventnor 3rds at Arreton by 2 wickets with 4 overs to spare. Captain Gary Cooper achieved the highest innings for Ventnor with 45; Richardson managed the highest knock for Freshwater with 58.
Ryde 3rds 116/7 Cowes 117/6
In Division 2, Cowes beat Ryde 3rds by 4 wickets. Tom Roscoe top-scored for Ryde with 29 runs; Scott Rice and Ciaran Saltzer took 3 wickets apiece for Cowes. Jack Summers was Cowes’ highest run-getter with 35 runs off 32 balls.
In Southern Premier Division 1 …
Basingstoke & North Hants 221/8 Ventnor 147 all out
Basingstoke & North Hants comfortably beat Ventnor by 74 runs. Basingstoke reached a total of 221 runs in their 50 overs with Dineth Thimodya and Rob Snell both bagging a brace of wickets for Ventnor.
In reply, the Island side managed a total of 147 before being scuttled out in the 44th over. Thimodya made the most resistance with a knock of 31.
In the Hampshire League …
Shanklin & Sandown 109 all out Portsmouth & Southsea 133 all out
In Division 3 (South), Shanklin & Godshill lost to Portsmouth & Southsea by 24 runs in a low scoring game. Portsmouth were limited to 133 runs with Callum Wright the pick of the Shanklin bowlers with 3-19 off 5 overs.
In reply, Shanklin managed just 109 before being skittled out. Callum Wright and Seb Egerton-Read top scored with just 19 apiece.
Ventnor 2nds 116/0 Solent Rangers 115 all out
In Division 4 (South), Ventnor 2nds trounced Solent Rangers by 10 wickets. Ventnor restricted Solent Rangers to just 115 in 26 overs with Sam Read returning the best bowling figures of 3-35.
The home side surpassed the Solent Rangers’ total in the 14th over without conceding a wicket. For Ventnor, Fletcher scored 35 runs off 40 balls, with fellow opener Barton making a quick-fire 60 off just 43 balls.
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