High-flying Slinfold warned not to let up as they sail clear

Slinfold captain Guy Thorne has warned his side not to let up after going 48 points clear at the top of Division 4 with their fourth-straight success.
Sussex League Division 4: Slinfold (batting) v Hellingly. Pic Steve Robards. SR1622414 Batting Guy Thorne SUS-160725-140757001Sussex League Division 4: Slinfold (batting) v Hellingly. Pic Steve Robards. SR1622414 Batting Guy Thorne SUS-160725-140757001
Sussex League Division 4: Slinfold (batting) v Hellingly. Pic Steve Robards. SR1622414 Batting Guy Thorne SUS-160725-140757001

They completed a 53-run home victory over basement side Hellingly aided by rampant run-scorer Akeem Jordan top-scoring with 68.

They then comfortably bowled out the hosts to continue sitting pretty in the top of two promotion places.

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Thorne commented: “I’ve said before, there is not one easy game in this league. Everyone is taking points and wins from each other, and we keep working harder and harder every week to win games of cricket – and Saturday was no exception.

Sussex League Division 4: Slinfold (batting) v Hellingly. Pic Steve Robards. SR1622425 Batting Ethan Ansell SUS-160725-140854001Sussex League Division 4: Slinfold (batting) v Hellingly. Pic Steve Robards. SR1622425 Batting Ethan Ansell SUS-160725-140854001
Sussex League Division 4: Slinfold (batting) v Hellingly. Pic Steve Robards. SR1622425 Batting Ethan Ansell SUS-160725-140854001

“It was another great team performance, four lads made batting contributions, and the five wickets were shared between Imran Shah and Tom Filby.

“Things are looking good, but we can’t take our foot off the gas now. 11 wins is normally enough to get up, so that’s now our aim, but it’s still one week at a time. We’ve opened up a 49-point gap between us and third, and I think about eight teams are vying for that second place as things stand.”

Slinfold stacked up 267-7 declared in 51.4 overs after losing the toss as openers Thorne hit 22 and Sean Overton 15. Jordan, batting at four, helped the score onto 196-6, assisted by Steve Haines (38), Tom Filby (38) and 42 not out from Dan Graycon.

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In reply, Hellingly crashed to 10-2 and 79-6 as Filby (2-15) and Thorne (3-79) made early inroads. Sam Walter’s 76 and Adam Pye’s 41 saw a seventh-wicket stand of 99 to take them to 179-6, but Shah (3-39) eventually saw off the tail.

Thorne added: “Hellingly seem to be a team that like chasing, and we knew they’d chased 200 and 230 in previous weeks, so we would have to bat well.

“We got off to a solid and patient start, but lost a cluster of wickets and were in a little bit of trouble at 54-4. A 100 partnership between Steve and Akeem settled some nerves and both batted very sensibly and ticked over.

“Tom and Dan also made some telling contributions and shared a 71 partnership in quick time – which gave us a good score on a wicket offering a little bit.

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“In reply, we knew Hellingly would come at us, they’ve got absolutely nothing to lose and are fighting for their lives, so a draw was never in their thinking. We knew if we broke the Walter and Pye partnership we’d go close, and Imran Shah continued his fine form with the ball to see off both batsmen.”

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