Match-Day 4 Weekly Round-Up By Graham Hardcastle
By Graham Hardcastle
Oswaldtwistle Immanuel’s never say die attitude carried them through to a remarkable nine-run victory at Cherry Tree in Saturday’s Anthony Axford North West Cricket League Premiership, says captain winning Kurt Smithson.
Oswaldtwistle triumphed in a clash which saw them defend a target of just 82 and had only two individual scores in the twenties – Joel Gaskill’s 22 for the winners and Owen Elwood’s 24 for home side Cherry Tree.
What made the win even more eye-catching for Smithson and his side was that Cherry Tree – replying to 81 all out – had reached 55-1 before losing nine wickets for only 17 runs.
Six of those went to Australian overseas amateur Charlie Jackson, who wreaked havoc with his off-spin in challenging conditions, the 21-year-old finishing with figures of 6-18 from eight overs.
He came on first change after only two overs with the new ball were bowled by Smithson, who said: “It wasn’t a great wicket to be fair, and I thought anything around 100 and we’d be in with a good chance of defending it.
“But they got off to a flyer, and Charlie has pulled it out of the bag. He’s a great lad, and he was outstanding.”
On whipping himself out of the attack early, Smithson said: “It just wasn’t the type of wicket for me. It was keeping low, and Mark Hadfield had bowled well for them in the first innings for his two wickets.
“With Charlie, though, he does turn it a lot. Luckily for us, I don’t think they played him that well. They left a lot of deliveries and ended up getting cleaned up.”
From 55-1, Oswaldtwistle would lose that game nine times out of 10. But not Saturday.
“Cherry Tree are a batting unit who take their chances and go after the game,” said skipper Smithson. “So I always felt that if we got a couple of quick wickets, we’d be able to put the pressure on. And we kept it very tight.”
Smithson won the toss and elected to bat at the Preston Old Road ground and explained his reasoning.
“We usually bat first and are quite good at putting a total on and defending it,” he said. “We’re not really a chasing side.
“The wicket didn’t look that bad, but it played much worse. The bounce wasn’t consistent. They can make for good games, which has happened here.”
In Immanuel’s 81 all out inside 32 overs, Smithson, batting at number nine, was one of only two batters to make double figures. He posted 13 in support of Gaskill, the pair sharing 18 for the eighth wicket from 37-7.
“It was just about batting overs and trying to stay in and pick up what we could,” he said.
“We’ve not batted well all season and have had two wins and a tie from four games. We’ve bowled ourselves back into games a lot already.”
And on Oswaldtwistle’s aims for the summer, Smithson added: “We’ve got the bowling unit to cause problems, and if we can believe in our batting then we’ll win more games than we lose.
The on-song trio are locked on 48 points at the summit after four matches, with a programme of 12 matches yielding only six scores above 150 and one above 200.
Bolton duo Social Circle and Little Lever were victorious on the road, beating Earby by seven wickets and Kearsley by four respectively. Salesbury also won by four wickets at Padiham, ensuring a 12-point return.
Seamer Dave Mather and West Indian professional Jameel Stuart equally shared eight wickets for Social Circle as Earby were bowled out for 70. Stuart captained in Tim Barrow’s absence and then hit three sixes in a four-ball 18 which saw him run out just short of victory.
Curtis Anderton, Nipun Gaikwad and Jake Lehmann struck three times to bowl Kearsley out for 109. Australian pro Lehmann then steered the ship from 38-4 with an unbeaten 40.
Salesbury were indebted to Ollie Wetton’s 6-42 as they bowled Padiham out for 129 before chasing their target for the loss of six wickets.
Australian overseas amateur Noah Panaia’s superb unbeaten 100 off 106 balls for Whalley – Saturday’s only hundred – came in a losing cause at Read, who chased a 159 target to win by six wickets inside 27 overs. Their captain Will Wrathall (43 not out) top-scored.
Brinscall claimed their first win, brushing Walkden aside by 98 runs at their School Lane home.
Opener Sam Maclachlan made 64 and South African overseas amateur Zadian Muller 68 in 232-9 before Sajan Muthanna’s 5-30 from 7.1 overs helped bowl bottom side Walkden out for 134 in reply to Saturday’s highest total.
Sri Lankan professional Ashen Silva starred with 4-11 from 10 overs of off-spin before opener Archie Phillipson’s unbeaten 31 anchored Settle’s successful pursuit.
Farnworth won at Barnoldswick by 30 runs as the hosts – bowled out for 89 – failed to respond to 119 all out. Silva’s compatriot Milinda Siriwardana top-scored with 40 for Farnworth before Indian seamer Yatin Mangwani returned 4-40.
That was the first of a trio of nail-biting finishes.
Hosts Eagley beat Baxenden by one wicket chasing 101. Pakistani pro Ayaz Tasawar claimed 5-30 from 14 overs and top-scored with 31, only for Eagley to slip from 94-6 to 97-9. But last man James Fallows got them over the line.
Blackrod snook home by two wickets hosting Atherton (110 all out).
Thushendra de Zoysa and Matthew Readey claimed four wickets apiece before Indian pro Ankit Lamba batted through with a measured 46 not out, helping recover from 89-7.
Matthew Lamb (53) and Tom Sheen (4-28), who opened the batting and bowling respectively, shone as Lostock claimed an impressive away win at Astley Bridge, bowling their hosts out for 123 defending 161.
Tonge (192-8) won at Feniscowles (162-9) by 30 runs. Sri Lankan pro Hashan Dumindu top-scored with 59 before taking 4-61.
