Relegation staved off in strong finale
LANGLEY 1st XI travelled to promoted Northwich at the weekend.
Skipper Chris Pattison won the toss and surprisingly elected to bat on a damp deck.
Langley got off to a poor start as Syed Hussain (4) was bowled in the third over. Abid Hussain (3) soon followed as he was caught in the covers.
Matt Nicholls and Zak Howdle steadied the ship taking the score to 47 before Howdle (22) was also caught in the covers.
Sunny Malik looked in good form hitting 2 huge sixes. With the total on 85/3 Langley suffered their usual collapse, Nicholls (30) was LBW, Malik (23) was caught at slip, Pattison (3) caught behind and Mo Faisal (1) was bowled as Langley were reduced to 102/8.
Saj Shah hit some lusty blows scoring 42 before he was caught at deep mid on.
Alex Berzins (8) was the final man out as Langley were all out for 141 in 38 overs.
After a fantastic tea, Mo Faisal and Matty ‘the sieve’ Doggart opened the bowling – the pitch had deteriorated somewhat and the batsmen looked edgy.
Paceman Doggart struck twice in his opening burst as Walker (5) was caught at slip by Nicholls and Cherian (13) chipped to Abid Hussain at midwicket.
David Frame replaced Faisal and struck first ball when Dhanawade (4) played on with the score on 39/3.
McDonagh and Visvanath fought hard and Northwich looked in control on 79/3. Pattison introduced Syed Hussain and the hosts collapsed dramatically.
Hussain had Visvanath (44) caught by Doggart at point, Frame saw McDonagh miscue a drive and Malik pouched a catch in the covers,
Gittens (4) then chipped Frame to Howdle at mid on, Hussain had Chadwin (7) caught at midwicket and when Hussain had Booty (1) caught at mid off by Pattison the hosts had been reduced to 97/8.
Mathew and Ingham fought back and saw off Frame and Hussain. They added 26 before Ingham (14) was well caught by Nicholls off Berzins at deep midwicket.
Verma joined Mathew and the duo ran well and hit some lusty blows.
A six by Mathew saw the scores tied.
Pattison threw the ball to Zak Howdle who charged in and with his first ball he knocked our Mathew’s middle stump.
A fantastic game ended all square.
Syed Hussain 3/12 off 7 overs, Frame 3/34 off 11 overs, Doggart 2/21 off 7 overs, Howdle 1/0 off 1 ball, Berzins 1/17 off 3 overs, Malik 0/25 off 5 overs and Faisal 0/27 off 9 overs all bowled well.
Skipper Chris Pattison said: “We looked like we could get relegated but the the team has performed well winning three and then tieing against the second in the league, I’m really pleased especially with today the way we fought until the death.”
Langley 2nds suffered heartache and ultimately relegation as they lost at home to Timperley.
Timperley hit 170
Kenny Love 3/20, Jonny Susan’s 2/25, Sriv Senarth 2/32 and Will Massey 2/44 bowling well. Langley replied with 167/7. Rick Hughes top scoring with 70.