Alston claims three but draw puts Dunstable back in trouble

Brad Matthews and Jonny Rice put on 100 for the second wicket before Rice was out for 55.

Matthews made 66 before Ben Welch’s quickfire 25 saw Dunstable make 199 all out with an over left.

Dunstable toiled away in reply but struggled for wickets as Stevenage reached 142-4. Mike Alston took 3-41 to prevent Stevenage reaching their target as they finished just two runs short at 197-7, although the draw saw Dunstable slide back into the drop zone.

The IIs lost by 77 runs to Ampthill IIs in Division Four B. Dunstable had their visitors 153-8 at one stage, but let Ampthill reach 186 all out as Mohammed Essa took four wickets.

In reply, Andy Boocock top scored with 34, but Dunstable were dismissed for 110 in 36.1 overs.

Waltham X IIs conceded to give the IIIs 30 points after three losses on the bounce.

The IVs continued to struggle as they were comprehensively beaten by eight wickets by Riseley.

Dunstable reached 177 as Paul Gilbert made 39, while Adam Stearn (24), James Andrews (33) and Freddie Lippiatt (26) all contributed.

However, Riseley raced to their target in just 26 overs, making 180-2.

The Sunday firsts were given a scare by Eversholt in their Beds County League Premier Division match, despite smashing 301-6.

Ned Whitney (47) opened the batting with overseas Ben Abbott as the latter hit 89 from 63 balls in a stand of 135.

Sam Cherry added a run-a-ball 43 and Terry Carr made 48 as Dunstable reached their seemingly unassailable total from 45 overs.

In reply, Cherry turned out to be the pick of the bowlers with 3-48 as Eversholt hit 274-9, with Dunstable winning by just 27 runs.

The IIs scraped their second one-wicket win of the season for a crucial win over Lutonian in their quest for First Division survival.

Dunstable bowled their hosts out for just 137 as Adam Lewis took 4-29 and Hamzah Khan 2-32.

The visitors then found themselves 73-5 in reply after 25 from Josh Thompson, but James Bromhall continued his good form by guiding Dunstable home with 28 not out, putting on over 30 with last man Ayub Khan (10no).

The IIIs put in a valiant effort against table-topping Flitwick IIs in Division Three.

Ben Adamson and George Whitcomb took two wickets each as Flitwick posted 225-6 from 40 overs before Adamson and James Andrews got Dunstable off to a flier with the bat.

They shared an opening partnership of over 100 as Adamson hit his first half-century of the season with 54 whilst Andrews was given out lbw dubiously for 36.