Iftikhar blasts Bramhall to six-wicket win

BRAMHALL won the toss when they faced Toft at Church Lane on Saturday, with captain Nick Cantello inviting the third placed visitors to make first use of the pitch.

The Beavers got off to a good start, keeping the scoring rate in check with a new opening bowling duo of Chris Sanders and Oliver Latter.

The first Toft wicket fell to Latter who removed Drummond for 18, claiming his first Premiership wicket at the age of 16.

Bramhall continued to pick up regular wickets throughout the Toft innings, never letting the visitors get away as they reached 112-5.

Toft’s lower order, however, offered some resistance with Jackson in particular looking a likely candidate to clear the ropes and Scott who managed to hit a couple of lusty blows off Ryan Macciocchi.

The away side were eventually bowled out off the final ball of their innings, in turn setting Bramhall a target of 210 to win. The pick of the Bramhall bowling attack were Macciocchi and Iftikhar Naseer, sharing seven wickets between them. Despite a last wicket Toft partnership exceeding thirty, Bramhall felt confident about the run chase, particularly as the previous week had seen them chase down a total of 250.

This confidence looked ill-placed as Bramhall got off to a terrible start in losing West for a duck, leaving the score 0-1.

Fellow opener Alex Hunt continued his form from the previous week, finding the middle of the bat with regularity, until he became Toft’s second breakthrough came with the score on 59.

The Beavers’ number three, Liam Banthorpe was looking good at the crease, and he combined with Adam Wilde to bring the required runs down to 100 before Wilde was caught for a well-made 25.

His dismissal brought the often-destructive Naseer to the crease, who calmly knocked the ball around the ground for singles as well as hitting the bad ball to the boundary. Banthorpe had passed his fifty before being bowled for 58, leaving the score on 138-4 the game far from over.

Cantello came to the crease knowing a captain’s innings was required to take the Beavers to victory, and he was able to support the increasingly aggressive Naseer to add a crucial 70 run stand. Iftikhar finished the game unbeaten on 57 and Cantello not out on 23, as Bramhall won by a healthy six wickets and win three overs to spare.

Bramhall have now picked up a crucial 50 points in the last two weeks, and face Marple away this Saturday, a team only three points ahead.

Bramhall’s second XI travelled to Sale hoping to keep their run of success going, but ended up thwarted and not a little frustrated. Sale won the toss and asked Bramhall to bat first.

Andy Reynolds and Ellie Mason provided a steady start to the innings before Ellie edged to the slips. And 35 for 1 became 73 for 4 as the next three batters failed to last long.

Tim Wood then joined Andy Reynolds with some consolidation required, and the pair added nearly 50 runs before Reynolds fell for a well made 71.

Tom Mason joined Woods, and after a few overs of acclimatisation, the two set about accelerating the scoring rate. After a couple of hours in the hot sun, the fielders were made to toil as they added another 90 runs in quick time.

With only seven balls left in the innings, Mason was eventually out for a swashbuckling 41. Wood made the most of the remaining balls, ending with an excellent 72 not out, as Bramhall totalled 229-6.

The Sale innings started slowly, effectively killing off the game as a contest as the openers dawdled to 35 without loss off 20 overs. On a flat track, taking wickets was a challenge against defensively minded batters. It wasn’t until the final six or seven overs that Sale opted to attack, aiming to secure a couple of batting bonus points, but never threatening to come close to the Bramhall total. They finished on 178-6.

Bramhall drop to third in the table after the draw, although the gap to the top of the table remains virtually unchanged, with league leaders Cheadle having also failed to secure a victory.