A stand of 150 between Tom Keast and Alex Aldred propelled Nottinghamshire’s Academy side to a winning draw and 17 points at Mansfield Hosiery Mills yesterday (Saturday).

Winning the toss and electing to bat first at the Fieldings, the Academy struggled to 53-3 despite 33 from opener Lyndon James.

However, the fourth-wicket partnership between Keast, who hit 81 from 90 balls, and Aldred, who made 79 from 80, advanced the total past the 200 mark by the 39th over.

Just one over later, Aldred, having struck 11 fours and one six, became the first victim of Kunal Manek, who went on to record figures of 4-58.

The Hosiery Mills player, who works at Trent Bridge as Nottinghamshire’s Performance Analyst, also accounted for Liam Patterson-White for a duck in the same over, but Keast kept the visitors’ momentum going in hitting eight boundaries and three maximums.

The wicket-keeper batsman was eventually out from the first ball of the 48th over, bowled by Manek, before Jack Blatherwick contributed a late 21 not out to help the Academy up to 289-8 off their 50 overs.

Mansfield Hosiery Mills made a strong start in their reply as Kamal Manek posted 35 and George Hadfield 26 in putting on 85 for the first wicket, helped by some loose bowling from the Academy attack.

The hosts were 104-3 in the 15th over before two partnerships put them into a strong position.

A 62-run fourth-wicket stand between Tom New, who made 29, and Joe New moved Mansfield on to 166-4, and then Matt New added 68 more along with his namesake to move the home side up to 234.

The dismissal of Joe New for 65 seemed to turn things back in the Academy’s favour and they stuck to the task well, bowling tight to the end.

Matt New’s departure for 37 also helped, as Hosiery Mills were restricted 264-7, 26 short of the total they needed for victory.

Click here for a full scorecard.

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