The Maniacs, who were put in to bat, can thank Archie Norris for reaching 222 for 7 after he hit a patient 88, in just over two hours, hitting 12 boundaries and a six.Martin David and Andrew O’Kelly both gave useful support, but the real fireworks came from Janos Kaminski with 65 in 37 minutes – four 4s and four 6s.Karl Moyse bowled Kaminski two overs into his second spell and with a run out and two wickets from Nigel Crocker the Maniacs were pegged back well.Earlier Mark Reynolds had kept a tidy line and length and was rewarded with a wicket off his last delivery, having David smartly caught at slip.JICC’s reply got under way after the tea interval and they were soon in trouble.
Danny Bertram was undone by the pace and bounce of Louis Piso, caught at slip, but Jonathan Gough, now joined by his brother Peter, took their chances and runs began to come.Surprisingly Piso only bowled four of his eight overs but then he caught Jonathan at cover off Kaminski for 24.
This brought Ward Jenner to the crease and between him and Peter Gough they added 59 runs in 12 overs.Jenner holed out to Piso again, this time at square-leg and Crocker was bowled by Bobby Parks and the JICC were behind at this point.Gough continued to play some lovely shots all around the ground and he and Andy Brown added a further 53 in nine overs before Brown was out for 26.
Richard Anthony seized the initiative with a well struck 32 before he was run out.Skipper Peter Scott shepherded Gough to his hundred and the side to victory.St Helier RFC returned to top spot in Division II in the NatWest Evening League last night after they won while previous leaders JUBRFC were beaten.Cup-kings St Helier, who have won both of the League’s KO trophies this season, defeated HSBC by eight wickets while JUBRFC slipped to a five-wicket defeat against Centurions.St Helier now lead both Centurions and JUBRFC by three points with each club having one match to play next Tuesday evening.Chasing 94 for victory last night, St Helier reached their target with 15 balls to spare after Chris Searson carried his bat for 45.Centurions also won with 15 balls to spare against JUBRFC.
The opening JUBRFC batsmen were pinned back by some accurate bowling and they took the vital wickets of Nick Symonds and Cameron Walker in the first three overs.With extras (16) contributing JUBRFC’s highest contribution, and some good fielding and bowling, Centurions’ target of 85 for victory never seemed out of reach.Elanco had a superb two-over spell of two wickets for seven runs but a clatter of early wickets rocked Centurions back on their heels.
However with Davis anchoring one end and Elanco (27 not out) playing some great strokes, Centurions came home for victory in 10.1 overs.Securicor notched up only their second win of the season, by six wickets against Jersey Academicals.
Craig Rowe top-scored with 35 (two 4 and two 6s) for the winners while Steve Dewhurst contributed 34 for the losers after hitting three boundaries.Both teams recorded half-century opening partnerships with Jim Walls accompanying Dewhurst and Nick Reynolds accompanying Rowe.
