Two excellent run chases for the Sleaford Saturday sides this weekend. The 1st XI travelled to Outgang Road and having won the toss Market Deeping elected to bat 1st. Despite some tidy bowling from the Sleaford attack, Deeping racked up 278/7 in their 50 overs, largely thanks to 111* by Woods. Kieran Harbron the pick of the bowlers conceding just 32 runs from his ten overs including the important wicket of overseas player Arshad. Observers have commented on the excellent fielding display from the Sleaford XI. With the bat Patel (65), restored to the top of the order, shared an opening partnership of 77 with Mansfield to lay the foundation. Hibberd then shared a further promising partnership of 65 with Smith, taking the score to 173. That left the skipper to join Smith to see Sleaford to the brink of victory as Smith fell for an enterprising 78 from 52 balls. Shorthouse finishing the innings with 52 following on from his excellent 100 the week before, giving Sleaford the victory by 5 wickets. The team finish the opening half of the season at a seasons high point of sixth as they look to climb the table in the back half.
The 2nd XI faced Boston at London Road. Their opponents opted to bat 1st and despite an undefeated 103 from Troops they posted a below par 222/9 from their 45 overs on what was a very flat and true Sleaford deck. Ollie Sneath picking up 3 wickets in a mixed bag, with 2 wickets for Goddard in an unusually expensive display. There was a wicket each for Sanders, Lambert, Godby and Nel. Skipper Godby was an early victim in the run chase, but Nel (81) and Makwana (52) batted superbly for a partnership of 127. Three quick wickets followed as both were out, but that left Lambert and Hutson to knock off the required runs in just the 33rd over. Lambert finishing on 46 from 32 balls. This was as good a Sleaford 2nd XI run chase as most supporters will have seen for quite some time, Nel especially showing glimpses of the quality that saw so many clubs compete for his signature back in the day.
Onto Sunday with both men’s senior teams in action. The 1st XI faced Lindum at home and on winning the toss opted to bat. A total of just 158 from 37.5 overs was not what was expected from the league leaders. The highlight being Dan Hutson clattering a ball onto the pavilion waking his children in the process! Lindum started the chase in positive fashion taking Chessum’s opening over for 16, but wickets started to tumble, including a comedy run out with both batters finishing at the same end of the pitch. Despite that, Lindum were on top for extended periods but as wickets were thrown away they eventually ran out of steam and gifted the win to Sleaford by 25 runs. The team cementing their position at the top of the league with a 100% record thus far.
The Sunday 2’s travelled to Heighington boasting a side with an average age of 19.5, although if you take Godby out that rapidly drops to 16.5! Bowling first they restricted their opponents to a gettable 191 all out with Liam Henry capturing 4/28. Pickwell taking 3 for 33, 2/22 from Ben Issott and a wicket for Josh Hinton. With the bat only Godby showed any real resistance with 79 as the chase petered out leaving Sleaford 24 runs short of the total.
Results from the past week.
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | Result | |
| 25 June | Caythorpe CC Under 15….77/8 | Sleaford CC Under 15….227/1 | Win by 150 runs | Scorecard |
| 26 June | Woodhall Spa CC Under 11….104/8 (Net 240) | Sleaford CC Under 11….87/7 (Net 231) | Lost by 9 runs | Scorecard |
| 27 June | Sleaford CC Under 15….79/7 | Nettleham CC Under 15 Arrows….82/1 | Lost by 9 wickets | Scorecard |
| 29 June | Market Deeping CC 1st XI….278/7 | Sleaford CC 1st XI….279/5 | Win by 5 wickets | Scorecard |
| Sleaford CC 2nd XI….226/5 | Boston CC 1st XI….222/9 | Win by 5 wickets | Scorecard | |
| 30 June | Sleaford CC Sunday 1st XI….158 | Lindum CC Sunday 1st XI….133 | Win by 25 runs | Scorecard |
| Heighington CC 1st XI….191 | Sleaford CC Sunday 2nd XI….167 | Lost by 24 runs | Scorecard |
Fixtures for the week ahead
There are no Sleaford home fixtures next weekend, but the club host Lincolnshire CCC in their 3 day fixture against Bucks starting next Sunday.
| Date | Start Time | Home Team | Away Team |
| Monday 1 July | 18:00 | Sleaford CC Under 13 | Boston CC Under 13 |
| Tuesday 2 July | 18:00 | Sleaford CC Under 15 | Boston CC Under 15 |
| Wednesday 3 July | 18:30 | Sleaford CC Women’s Super 8’s | Spalding CC Women’s Super 8s |
| 18:00 | Boston CC Under 11 | Sleaford CC Under 11 | |
| Saturday 6 July | 11:30 | Bourne CC 1st XI | Sleaford CC 1st XI |
| Sunday 7 July | 13:00 | Ancaster CC Sunday 1st XI | Sleaford CC Sunday 1st XI |
| 11:00 | Sleaford CC Women’s Soft Ball | Farndon CC Women’s Softball | |
| 13:00 | Duffield CC Womens 1st XI | Sleaford CC Womens 1st XI | |
| 15:00 | Sleaford CC Women’s Soft Ball | Bingham CC Womens Soft Ball |
League Tables can be located via these links
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