Bollington off top spot after Mobberley loss

FIRST took on third with a win for either Bollington or Mobberley increasing their side’s chances of promotion with the gap widening at the top.

Mobberley selected to bat first, which immediately looked like the right decision as they brought up 50 off their first 10 overs of the match. Sabir Mallie (2-57) struck first removing Mobberley’s captain for 18 with the scores at 52-1.

Another Mobberley partnership tormented the Bollington bowling attack after some terrific bowling went unrewarded. A further 40 runs was added to the scores before Mallie caught Australian Neild for 44 off the bowling of Hafiz Imran (28-1).

Another wicket soon followed as Alex Durie (20-1) bowled Goodstadt for four, which left Mobberley in a more compromising position at 96-3.

The next wicket was the crucial one as Bollington began to struggle to make a breakthrough towards the middle overs of the game. The runs started to flow as the Mobberley batsmen began to frustrate the Bollington bowling attack. It wasn’t until the scores reach 153 until the next wicket fell which saw Wood depart for 46 after a well-judged catch by Peter Henshall from the bowling of Mallie.

Yet another middle order partnership seemed to give Mobberley the edge as the scores surpassed 200 with 10 overs to go. As the batsmen started to free their arms Jahangir (20-1) removed Mountney for 49 with the scores standing at 217-5. A further 23 was added to the scores leaving Bollington to chase 240 off their 50 overs.

Bollington’s reply was hindered early on as Richard Hough was caught in the covers for 12. This brought South African Mallie to the crease alongside Barrass who both needed to build a partnership if they were to stand any chance of victory.

Bollington were cruising as the scores passed 100 and the confidence within both batsmen was ever present. Mallie got to his 50 before almost immediately losing his wicket afterwards, leaving Bollington on 120-2. Soon after Barrass fell, falling narrowly short of his 50 departing for 48 after being caught behind for the second week in succession.

Some fine hitting from Hafiz Imran (34) set Bollington in great stead of reaching the required total reached less than 100 with 17 overs to play.

Soon after passing the 150 mark, Plant fell for six after being bowled by Neild. The Mobberley side began to feel like victory was back within their grasps as the confidence amongst the team began to show. Imran fell for 34 with the scores poised at 168-5. Paterson (26) looked certain to carry Bollington home as he took Bollington past 200 before he lost his wicket after a fine catch at backward point.

At 210-6 the chances of victory for both sides began to become a possibility. Bollington lost Jahangir (22), Horsfield (8) and Henshall (1) for just 8 runs with the scores at 222-9. The score increased up towards the required total before Mobberley bowled McKernan for the 10 wicket to win the match by five runs.

For the first time this season Bollington found themselves defeated and move down to second place. Next week’s fixture seem them travel to Northwich.