Scarborough maintain improved form

Oliver Stephenson on his way to a half-century against Woodhouse Grange. Picture: Steve Lilly

Ben Elvidge’s men followed up successive victories over Dunnington and Castleford with another decent result to further ease their fears of being sucked into a relegation battle.

Batting first, the Seasiders lost seasoned opener Darren Harland for 13, leaving them 35-1, but Oliver Stephenson (66) and Mark Tennant (42) looked in great touch as they put on 94 for the second wicket.

Despite having a good platform at 129-2, Scarborough’s middle order failed to really kick on, and they finished their 50 overs on 187-7, Kristian Wilkinson (19) the only other batsman to make much of an impression.

Wilkinson got rid of Grange opening bat Sam Beales early on, but knocks from Mike Burdett (45), Andrew Bilton (41) and Chris Bilton (36) kept the visitors in contention.

Four wickets from skipper Elvidge (4-54), plus a couple of run-outs, then gave the hosts a sniff of victory, but as a close game headed towards its conclusion, neither side were able to claim the ascendancy.

Woodhouse closed on 181-8, leaving them just eight runs short of their target and Scarborough just two more wickets away from bowling them out.

In York Senior League Ebor Division Two, Scarborough 2nds secured a winning draw from their clash with Pickering 2nds.

Josh Mainprize’s unbeaten 52 and 32 from Neil Elvidge helped the visitors post an imposing 228-7 from their 45 overs.

The Pikes were never up with the required run-rate and stuttered to 111-6 from their allotted overs, meaning the away side took 26 points from the fixture to stay top of the table.