The sun blazed down on a well-prepared wicket at Marehay, where a welcoming home side and supportive crowd created a great setting for what proved to be a one-sided encounter.
Coming off the back of two confident wins, Buxton arrived with high morale and played like a side brimming with belief. After winning the toss, Buxton elected to bat, and the tone was set early. On a wicket made for runs and under a blazing sun that had spectators and fielders alike shedding layers, Buxton’s innings was expertly anchored by Sanchez. Displaying calm authority and elegant strokeplay, Sanchez paced the innings beautifully, crafting a composed 79 and batting through much of the innings, acting as the glue around which Buxton’s batting thrived.
Supporting acts came from the middle order, with Whitehouse in particular showing power and intent before falling to a brilliant diving catch at deep cover for 39, arguably the moment of the match from a Marehay perspective and C. Griffin with 57.
Buxton closed their innings on a daunting 271 for 7 off 45 overs, rarely looking troubled. The scoreboard pressure was evident early in Marehay’s reply. Buxton’s opening bowlers playing together for the first time this season hit their straps immediately, extracting movement and applying relentless pressure. Early wickets set the tone, and the Buxton bowlers never looked back.
Heathcote and Harry Griffin chipped in with crucial wickets, but it was Donnelly who stole the show with a blistering spell of hostile fast bowling. Tall, composed, and relentless, he tore through the middle order, leaving Marehay with little hope of a revival.
To their credit, Marehay’s top and tail, numbers 1 and 11, offered spirited resistance. The last-wicket pair gave the crowd a few cheers, with the number 11 swinging hard and connecting well, even taking on the Australian Griffin in an entertaining final few overs. But the gap in class showed, and Marehay ultimately fell well short on 146 all out off 36.1 overs, handing Buxton a dominant 125-run win.
Buxton are back at home next weekend against Clowne Town, with expectations high. Confidence, cohesion, and class seem to be aligning at the right time, early signs of a promising campaign.
Buxton 2nd XI scraped a one wicket win over Swanwick Hall 1st XI in Division 5 North. Swanwick won the toss and elected to bat, and after 31.3 overs were all out for 119. Buxton made hard work of it with the bat in reply, eventually knocking off the winning runs after 33.1 overs. 120 for 9. J. Boffey with 35 not out and A. Carratt with 31 runs being the pick of the batsmen.
Buxton 3rd XI won by 8 wickets at home to Shipley Hall 2nd XI in Division 8 North. Buxton won the toss and put Shipley into bat, they made 153 all out off 29 overs. Pick of the bowlers for Buxton were Ryder Bunting with 3 wickets for 46 runs and Chris Hazelhurst 3 wickets for 15 runs. In reply Buxton 154 for 2 off 29.2 overs. Faye Smith 54 not out and Jacob Blackwell 36 not out.
Buxton 4th XI had a difficult day away at Calow 1st XI in Division 9 North. Calow won the toss putting Buxton into bat making 87 for 9 off their 40 overs. Top innings of 50 from young Issac Blackwell holding the innings together. Calow reached 90 without loss after 9.5 overs to win by 10 wickets.
Buxton 5th XI were up against a strong Matlock and Cromford Meadows 3rd XI in Division 10 North. Matlock and Cromford making 210 for 3 off their 40 overs. Buxton in reply 112 all out off 37.5 overs.