Heroic bowling duo do business with bat
THE Green finally got their fielding back on track in a game that they had to win if they were to stay in early contention for the league leadership.
They travelled to Maritime, the furthest point in the league for the Green . Josh Hampson won the toss and invited Maritime to take first knock.
They opened with Morris and Samaranoon facing the Greens opening attack of Jack Needham and Jason Downey.
The wicket proved to be lively due to the rain during the week, giving plenty of bounce and carry for the bowlers who put their back into it.
Needham was first to strike when he had Samaranoon smartly caught at point by Mark Richards for 2, 12-1.
New batsman Mickell and Morris were both very quick to attack any loose deliveries and this brought a change in bowling as Dylan Heginbotham replaced Downey with immediate success when, after striking a maximum, Mickell was caught at mid on by Richards for 20, 58-2.
Next to the crease Kanthiraj tried to dig in and support Morris but Morris became Heginbotham’s second victim when he was caught by Elliot Young for 34. His innings consisted of eight fours, 65-3.
And it quickly became 65-4 as Jayawardena was removed second ball by Heginbotham for a duck.
Next to the crease and next to leave was Samarasekara, giving Needham his second victim, caught Young for just 3, 78-5.
In his next over, Needham removed Kanthiraj to an excellent catch by young keeper Jake Skelton for 13, 80-6.
At this stage the bowlers were in complete charge and survival was not an option for the batsmen as Heginbotham took a wicket in each of his next four overs. The first was an excellent catch by Tom Littler as De Silva fell for 6, 86-7, with Rauf and Suthagaran both falling for ducks and the final wicket that of Barigela bowled by Heginbotham the Maritime innings closed on 95 in 30 overs.
The Green held on to the eight chances offered and with the quality of bowling on show it was no surprise that Maritime lost their last nine wickets for the addition of just 37 runs.
Needham closed with figures of 15 overs 3-43 and Heginbotham 10 overs 7-29 – both backed by an excellent fielding display.
Any thoughts of this being an easy victory were quickly dispelled when the Greens opening batsman, 6’ 5” Whisker, was struck in the box by a rising ball only to be given out LBW for a duck, 4-1 – a decision he was still contesting for the remainder of the game.
The Greens other opener, skipper Josh Hampson, dug in determined not to take any chances but lost new batsman Brad Holme for just 1 bowled Kanthiraj, 7-2.
Next to the crease Elliot Young took the attack to the bowlers with a couple of fours and one maximum before he fell bowled Rauf for 17, 28-3.
Hampson finally succumbed to the bowling of Kanthiraj for 10 in which he faced 51 balls in just over one hour at the crease – this proved to be an invaluable innings, 32-4.
This brought together the two bowling heroes Needham and Heginbotham and both dug in as their very lives depended on carrying their team to victory.
Heginbotham was the more aggressive of the two as he punished anything slightly off line, both showed a maturity probably not seen in past innings and eventually took the team over the line with Needham closing on 30 not out in 71 balls and Heginbotham 37 not in 48 balls, words cannot describe the intensity they both faced whist at the crease. An excellent team victory which will, hopefully, enable the team to carry the momentum forward. Next week the 1stXI are at home to league leaders North Cheshire wickets pitched 12.
On Saturday the 2ndXI scored 172-6 against Metro Vicks with contributions from Badger Stu and Tom Headridge but were unable to stop their opponents racing to victory.
On Thursday June 2nd the Green 1stXI are at home to Hyde in the CCCL T20 competition.