Improvement needed as Widnes lose
ECB PREMIER LEAGUE WIDNES ........................................ 159 NESTON .................................... 160/2 NESTON WON BY 8 WICKETS
WIDNES thoughts may have been on the cup semi-final on the following day but Neston represented a good opportunity to pick up four win points and for some players to play themselves into form.
Neston won the toss and asked Widnes to bat with the wicket expected to slow and low.
Captain Evans promoted himself to open together with Ben Hewitt and progress was slow in the face of some hostile bowling from Ashley Davis.
Evans made 13 and Hewitt 14 and it was left to Burns to steer the innings towards a reasonable total.
With Luke McCoy getting caught for 13 from a delivery which held up in the pitch and Majeed falling for eight, only Alex Hewitt provided support to Burns.
Having hit two huge sixes Hewitt was bowled by Donelan for 36 and Burns fell for 43. Hafiz hit two lusty blows but Widnes were all out of the last ball of the 45 overs for 159.
Local pundits felt this was 70 runs short of a challenging total and so it was proved when Neston batted.
Openers Gill and Stokes put bat to ball from the first over and quickly progressed the total to 47 before Gill fell to Hafiz for 23.
Camden was next out, bowled by Majeed for two, and there ended any further wickets.
Stokes decided that he had an early dinner appointment and set about the Widnes bowlers with shots all round the wicket.
Having hit five 6s and eight 4s he took Neston to the 160 target in the thirty first over, finishing 90 not out, with his partner Williams making 35.
Overall it was a very comprehensive defeat which highlighted the gulf in performance between the two teams.
Major improvement in all departments is required if Widnes are to remain at Cheshire’s cricket top table beyond 2021, leaving much to ponder for the Widnes hierarchy.