The 1st XI travelled north to Grimsby on Saturday only to be turned around and sent back home as the umpires deemed the outfield unplayable. It was good to see a number of the team return to London Road to support the 2nd XI in their fixture against Newborough. Opting to field first, Sleaford’s attack restricted their opponents with some miserly bowling. Goddard, whilst wicketless, conceding just 17 runs from his 9 overs. There were wickets for Makwana (2/29), Nel (4/23), Lambert (1/27) and Godby (2/23) as the innings was wrapped up at the end of the 45th over with just 123 runs to chase. The Newborough opening bowling attack would not look out of place in the ECB Premier league, and Sleaford batters did not have it all their own way. At 43/3, the game was still in the balance, however Tom Sanders showed maturity beyond his years in compiling an excellent 57, ably supported by Charlie Roberts with 33. The total was reached without further wickets being lost and with time to spare.
Onto Sunday, and due to fixture congestion the 1st XI had to concede their rearranged ECB National Club Championship match against Loughborough Town. The Sunday 1’s, therefore took on Market Rasen at home. Batting first, Sleaford reached 179 all out for their 40 overs, Si Godby topscoring with 59. At times, Rasen looked likely to reach this target, but the introduction of Smith capturing 4/19, backed up by K Harbron (3/41) and Lambert (2/26) saw the opposition dismissed for 155.
The Sunday 2’s travelled to Blankney. Fielding first, a large number of missed chances allowed their opponents to reach 168/8. Oscar Lond with 3 wickets and a brace each for Josh Hinton and Michael Young. According to eyewitnesses, Sleaford’s young attack created enough opportunities to bowl them out twice over. Unfortunately, the total proved too many and they were dismissed for just 96 in the 30th over.
The Women’s 1st XI was due to take on Gedling Colliery hosted by Radcliffe CC. Unfortunately, a car boot sale took precedent and subsequently made the outfield completely unplayable. Thanks to Mel Jarvis for the picture.
Onto Monday, and London Road hosted one of the preliminary Winkworth T20 rounds as our 1st XI took on Market Deeping and Grantham. Sleaford played match 2 as Grantham had already progressed, meaning Sleaford faced Deeping first. Sleaford posted a competitive total of 134/8 in their 20 overs largely thanks to 59 from Shorthouse. Our opponents were in the hunt at 61/1 at the start of the 8th over, before a flurry of wickets saw Deeping dismissed for just 73 as Sleaford strolled to victory by 61 runs. Smith being the pick of the bowlers with 4/4. Onto the final against Grantham. Again, batting first, Sleaford never really got going and lost wickets regularly. 107/7 was unlikely to be enough and so it proved as Grantham reached the target for the loss of 5 wickets with 3 overs to spare. Sleaford have failed in their quest for a 3rd successive triumph in this competition as Grantham move on to finals day, hosted by Sleaford on Monday 27th May.
Results from the past week.
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | Result |
| 30 April | Hartsholme CC Under 13….54/2 | Sleaford CC Under 13….53/9 | Lost by 8 wickets Scorecard |
| 4 May | Grimsby CC 1st XI | Sleaford CC 1st XI | Abandoned |
| Sleaford CC 2nd XI….124/3 | Newborough CC 2nd XI….123 | Won by 7 wickets Scorecard | |
| 5 May | Sleaford CC Sunday 1st XI….179 | Market Rasen CC Sunday 1st XI….155 | Won by 24 runs Scorecard |
| Blankney CC Sunday 1st XI….168/8 | Sleaford CC Sunday 2nd XI….96 | Lost by 72 runs Scorecard | |
| Gedling Colliery CC Womens 2nd XI | Sleaford CC Womens 1st XI | Abandoned | |
| 6 May | Sleaford CC 1st XI….134/8 | Market Deeping CC 1st XI….73 | Won by 61 runs Scorecard |
| Sleaford CC 1st XI….107/7 | Grantham CC 1st XI….108/5 | Lost by 5 wickets Scorecard |
Fixtures for the week ahead.
| Date | Start Time | Home Team | Away Team |
| Wednesday 8 May | 18:00 | Collingham & District CC Under 11 | Sleaford CC Under 11 |
| Saturday 11 May | 11:30 | Sleaford CC 1st XI | Scunthorpe Town CC 1st XI |
| 13:00 | Moulton Harrox CC 2nd XI | Sleaford CC 2nd X | |
| Sunday 12 May | 13:00 | Sleaford CC Womens 1st XI | Hartsholme CC Womens 1st XI |
| 13:00 | Rustons CC 1st XI | Sleaford CC Sunday 2nd XI |
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