Captain Jack inspires Leighton to victory

Leighton Buzzard kept in touch with the pace setters of Cherwell League Division Two after defeating fellow promotion chasers Cropredy by five wickets on Saturday, thanks in no large part to skipper Jack Kempster.
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Three wickets and a top score of 59 for the captain saw Leighton leap-frog their opponents to take third place in the table, 15 points from top spot.

Kempster got the ball rolling, removing opener Beckett (1) in the third over before James Aldridge claimed his maiden first team scalp.

Some tight bowling from Leighton restricted the hosts scoring to around three per over and this pressure soon began to tell.

Anthony Francis took a two wicket maiden to leave Cropredy reeling on 59-4 in the 22nd over.

Cropredy dug in though and some clean hitting from overseas opening batsman Matt Mcinerney (53) put up their best partnership of the game for the fifth wicket.

Once he fell to Lee Selfe it was one-way traffic as the hosts folded from 91-4 to 125 all out. Selfe taking 3-25, a sharp run-out from Dave Roberts and Kempster 3-24, clearing up the tail with two wickets in two balls.

In response, Town struggled with Raine (4) and Callaghan (0) falling cheaply to leave Leighton on 22-2.

Whatmore (18) had been finding the boundary with ease but he fell to a brilliant caught and bowled and with Roberts (6) soon following, alarm bells began to ring at 46-4.

This brought Kempster to the crease who played the captain’s innings for his 59 not out, guiding Leighton to the vital victory.

Leighton host second placed Challow and Childrey in another top of the table clash on Saturday.

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