LEEK THIRD TEAM
19th April 2008
The semi- final of the Wildblood cup bought Church Eaton to Westwood Bowl on Saturday to face leek 3rd XI. Outing a young side, skipper Dan Cooper won the toss and elected to bowl. Opening Bowlers Nathan Ball and Dave Fern kept the run rate down, Fern striking early to leave Church Eaton 15 for 1. Tight fielding and wicket keeping from stand in keeper Elliot Fowler kept Church Eaton under pressure to score and with the introduction of Wasim Akhtar and Liam McDermott, wickets started to tumble, Akhtar bowled A Brown for 1 with his first ball, and finishing the innings brilliantly with figures of 5 for 25 from 8 overs, McDermot bowled tight to gain figures of 2 for 11 from 6, and Ball produced excellent line and length for 1 for 21 from his 8 overs, Church Eaton finished the innings 137 all out, D Smith dismissed just 3 shy of his half century.
The Leek reply hit a bumpy start, and after losing a few key wickets leek were 30 for 3, a quick 21 from Liam McDermott bought leek closer to the required run rate, and the middle order of Elliot Fowler, Andy Ball and Bassit Mahmood bought the leek total up to 97 after Ball was caught for 19 Wasim Akhtar joined Bassit Mahmood at the crease and the pair took leek to the finish, Mahmood hitting 17 not out, and Akhtar, an undefeated 31. Leek finished 141 for the loss of 7 wickets, and 4 overs to spare. Leek will now go on to face Knypersley or Newcastle in the Final to defend their title.
Church Eaton How out Bowler Score Leek Won Toss D. Maley caught W Akhtar 18 Venue: Westwood Bowl M Holdcroft caught D Fern 11 Leek Win A Brown bowled W Akhtar 1 19/04/2008 D Smith caught W Akhtar 47 D Cooper skipper T Holdcroft caught H Mahmood 3 Fowler wicket keeper R Storrow bowled W Akhtar 1 D Bowers caught N Ball 19 D Hughes bowled W Akhtar 0 D Whitfield not out 17 A Richards bowled L McDermott 0 A Hughes lbw L McDermott 6 extras 14 total 137 Bowling O M R W D Fern 6 0 27 1 N Ball 8 3 21 1 L McDermott 6.4 3 11 2 W Akhar 8 2 25 5 H Mahmood 6 0 35 1 B Mahmood 3 1 13 0 Leek How out Bowler Score D Fern caught D Whitfield 9 D Cooper bowled A hughes 1 N Ball caught D Smith 12 L McDermott run out 21 H Mahmood bowled D Smith 2 A Ball caught D Halley 19 E Fowler caught A Richards 13 B Mahmood not out 17 W Akhtar not out 31 D Williamson dnb A Mahmood dnb extras 16 total 141-7 Bowling O M R W D Whitfield 8 0 38 1 A Hughes 6 2 19 1 D Smith 7 0 27 2 A Richards 8 3 15 1 D Halley 8 1 28 1