CRICKET: STANDARD boosted hopes of clinching a top five spot in the Warwickshire Cricket League Premier Division after defeating Hampton and Solihull by 138 runs.
After losing the toss, Standard were put into bat – and openers Ryan Leybourne and Minesh Patel wasted no time in helping Standard past 20.
Patel, though, was caught by Tim Keyte for 13, bringing Andy Jones to the crease.
Jones’ efforts took Standard past 50 as Leybourne (48) remained a constant during the opening half of the home side’s innings.
Middle order batsman Steve Vaughan stole the show though, hitting a faultless 82 from just 76 balls as Standard stamped their authority on the game.
Helped by Robert Jones (66), the pair put on 103 for the fourth wicket as Standard ended on an above part score of 292/7 from 50 overs.
In reply, Hampton and Solihull made a disastrous start and were soon reduced to 35/5 as Steve Vaughan and Jamie O’Hara ripped through Hampton’s top order.
Chris Mason (25) and Asif Patel (29) helped steady Hampton’s innings. But in truth they were never likely to recover from their poor start as an ever increasing run-rate only led to the fall of more wickets.
Michael Taylor hit a confident 35* at the tailend as Hampton were bowled out for 154.