Newtown 94 all out Ludlow 95 for 4

LUDLOW claimed victory by six wickets having bowled Newtown out to remain top of the Shropshire County Premier League above Wem.

Skipper Pete Ezard said: ''We thought we would have shaken off Wem by now but they have stayed on our tail. The league title could be down to the last game of the season when we play Perkins away.''

Wem also took 20 points on Saturday in their defeat of Madeley to maintain a six-point gap.

At Newtown, Ludlow won the toss and chose to field bowling out the home side for 94 off 33 overs.

Paceman Ollie Margetts (5-46) was the star of the show ably assisted by 15-year-old seamer Will Sparrow (3-13). The only resistance came from Mike Bellamore (43).

In reply, Ludlow lost early wickets and were at one point 54 for 4 before opener Matt Hawes (29) and young Sparrow (21 not out) steadied the ship. Bellamore (3-36) was the best of the Newtown bowlers.

On Saturday, Ludlow are at home to Market Drayton who have won their last four games.

Ludlow 2nds 322 for 4

Newtown 2nds 318 all out

In an extraordinary game of one-day cricket, with 640 runs scored, Ludlow only just scraped home.

Skipper William Moore's declaration paid off only because of the extra overs it gained for his side.

Newtown won the toss and asked Ludlow to bat. Main contributors in their 322 for 4 in 46 overs were opener Tim Goldthorp (52), Rob Genner (83), Tom Smith (67 not out) and Dave Tuckett-Good (61).

Moore gave his men 54 overs in which to win and all was looking good at 50 for 3. That was until opener Tom Foulkes (143) and R Davies (93) got together in a 186-run stand.

Newtown stood poised at 10 to win in 3 overs with 3 wickets intact until Ludlow took the last wicket in the final over. Best bowlers were medium pacer Dave Tuckett-Good (4-61) and teenager Zeeshan Ahmed (2-53).

Ludlow 2nds are away to Market Drayton 2nds on Saturday.