The Saturday 1st XI completed their 2024 Premier League campaign with a thumping win over Market Deeping at London Road. Bowling first, Sleaford ran through the Deeping line-up dismissing them for a paltry 119 in 37.3 overs. Wickets were shared with 2 for Tite, D Harbron, Hall and Shorthouse and 1 for K Harbron. Wides top scoring with 18! The runs were chased down in 18.3 overs with Patel scoring 44 and a quickfire 62* from Moorby. The only downside according to the skipper was his disappointment at having to bat. The team finish 5th in the table after a strong second half of the season.
The Saturday 2nd XI also completed their league campaign away to local rivals Billingborough. Opting to bowl first, Sleaford were soon amongst the wickets and keeping the scoring rate in check. Billingborough were all out for 158. Skipper Godby being the pick of the bowlers with 4/38. With the bat, the task looked relatively straight forward and an opening stand of 56 between Nel (47) and Sanders (31) appeared to confirm that. A little wobble through the middle order cleared the way for Hutson to hit a quickfire 15* to seal the victory. The 2’s finish in a very respectable 3rd place in the SLBL Championship.
Onto Sunday and the 1st XI knew a win at home to Ancaster would likely seal the title. With poor weather around Sleaford were asked to bat first. Quick runs were required and these were provided by the bats of Oates (65), Sanders (38), Godby (50) and Patel (58) allowing a bold declaration after just 33 overs with the score 231/4. In reply the Ancaster innings got off to a solid start, and at 55/0 and then 112/1 at the halfway point the plan was not going as the team would have hoped. However, the introduction of K Harbron into the attack turned the game on its head as he captured a match winning 5-40 from his 10 over spell. Ancaster falling short by just 12 runs to hand Sleaford the league with 2 games to spare. Great work team in winning 14 of their 16 matches thus far and bringing home another piece of silverware.
The 2nd XI was thankful for an abandonment as they were shot down for just 92 by Horncastle. The rain did not relent long enough for Horncastle to have a hit.
The Women’s 1st XI had a similar scenario as they reached 93/5 before the rain came, causing the match to also be abandoned. This result saw the team finish in a creditable third place in the league.
Results from the past week.
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | Result | |
| 14 September | Sleaford CC 1st XI….121/2 | Market Deeping CC 1st XI….119 | Win by 8 wickets | Scorecard |
| Billingborough CC 1st XI….158 | Sleaford CC 2nd XI….162/6 | Win by 4 wickets | Scorecard | |
| 15 September | Sleaford CC Sunday 1st XI….231/4 dec | Ancaster CC Sunday 1st XI….219/8 | Win by 12 runs | Scorecard |
| Horncastle CC Sunday 1st XI….DNB | Sleaford CC Sunday 2nd XI….92 | Abandoned | Scorecard | |
| Spondon CC Women’s Academy….DNB | Sleaford CC Womens 1st XI….93/5 | Abandoned | Scorecard |
Fixtures for the week ahead
| Date | Start Time | Home Team | Away Team |
| Saturday 21 September | 13:00 | Sleaford CC Sunday 2nd XI | Billingborough CC Sunday 1st XI |
| Sunday 22 September | 13:00 | Sleaford CC Sunday 1st XI | Bracebridge Heath CC Sunday 1st XI |
League Tables can be located via these links