On a wonderfully bright summer’s evening at Hem Heath cricket club, the T20 cup began. The home side won the toss and elected to field first. Strangely, the game began 10 minutes late; not that the big crowd minded, as conditions couldn’t have been better.
There was plenty of life in the wicket as the ball beat the bat several times in the opening overs. Captain Ben Lucas claimed the early wicket of Worthington when he nicked a delivery through to keeper Ben Ford with the score on 14.
After a slow start, Reece White finally found some momentum when he struck back-to-back boundaries through the leg side in the fifth over. Bagnall Norton had reached 31/1 at the end of the power play as they looked to build towards a score around the 150 mark.
Harvey Ault removed White for 26 in the 10th over as his strange innings finally came to an end. His technique severely limits him when playing certain shots, as he never seems to get fully forward when playing on the front foot, and he relies heavily on scoring off the back foot. Several times during his innings, he was seen trying to play a drive through the off side with all his weight still back in the crease.
Scott Winnington struck back-to-back boundaries in the 12th over as he looked to push the score along. Bagnall Norton had made their way to 67/2 at the end of the over; the Hem Heath bowling and fielding had been excellent up to this point.
Morgan Murray-Williams then started the 14th over with consecutive boundaries down the ground off the bowling of Ault. He then struck the final delivery for another boundary through mid-wicket, this time as it proved to be a productive over for the travelling side.
Winnington struck powerfully through the off side once again as the Bagnall Norton 100 came up in the 16th over. Murray-Williams then flicked Lucas over square leg and followed it up with an inside edge that flew past fine leg for another boundary as the runs began to flow at the end of the innings.
Murray-Williams was caught on the cover boundary for a well-made 45 in the 19th over. Lucas bowled a fantastic over where he only conceded 6 runs and took the wicket of Murray-Williams. Winnington struck an enormous blow over the side screen in the final over. He then brought up an excellent 50 when he pushed the next ball to long on. A four through mid wicket off the final ball took the Bagnall Norton total to 145/3 from their 20 overs. Winnington made an excellent 54* off 37 balls and hit seven 4’s and one huge 6.
Lucas finished with 2/23 from his 4 overs, and he was the pick of the home side’s bowlers. Jack Jones bowled well too; he bowled his 4 overs straight through at the start of the innings, only conceding 16 runs from them. It was the partnership of 78 between Murray-Williams and Winnington that allowed Bagnall Norton to post a competitive total.
Murray-Williams began with a maiden over as he found swing with the new ball. Two wickets fell in the 4th over as Ben Ford was caught at long on after some early Bagnall Norton pressure paid off. Alfie Harrison was then caught and bowled off a leading edge as he looked to turn the ball into the leg side to complete an excellent over for bowler Cain Gibson.
The Hem Heath professional Jaidel Richardson was quickly into his work. He punished two short balls from Alex Dodd in the 5th over. he looked very strong against the short ball. Bagnall Norton had the better of the powerplay, restricting Hem Heath to 20/2 when it was completed.
Lucas was then brilliantly caught at deep mid-wicket by Euan Hurst off the bowling of Hafiz Suleman. Hurst made up 20 yards running to his right and took the catch at head height whilst still on the move. It was a fantastic piece of fielding that left Hem Heath in further trouble at 22/3.
Cain Gibson completed an excellent 4-over spell, picking up figures of 2/13. He only conceded one boundary in that spell, and it came via a mis-field on the boundary edge. Considering he bowled three of his overs inside the powerplay, further credit should be given.
Oscar Bradshaw was caught on the mid-wicket fence as Hem Heath slumped to 33/4 in the 10th over. They were falling further and further behind the run rate as each over ticked by. Richardson and Jack Jones both struck boundaries in the 12th over as Hem Heath finally began to show some impetus as the run rate climbed above 12 an over.
Suleman claimed his second wicket in the next over when Jones was easily caught at backward point, when the ball looped off an outside edge as he went for a big hit over the leg side. Suleman bowled 4 overs of very miserly left-arm spin, only conceding 22 and picking up two wickets in the process.
Richardson began the 14th over with a powerful pull through mid-wicket, then followed it up with a towering blow into the car park as he attempted to keep up with the run rate as the wickets fell around him. He was caught by Winnington in the next over off the bowling of Dodd for 41, and the match was effectively over as a contest at that point.
Danny Sanders and George Leese then added 24 in two overs as they desperately tried to keep up with the ever-climbing run rate after Richardson’s dismissal. Sanders was bowled for an aggressive 17 by Dodd in the 19th over as the match drew nearer to its conclusion. Hem Heath finally closed on 116/8 to lose by 29 runs against a very good and disciplined Bagnall Norton. Gibson, Suleman, Winnington and Dodd all finished with 2 wickets apiece as they controlled the Hem Heath run rate throughout the innings. Bagnall Norton were the deserving winners in the end but Hem Heath can be proud of the fight that they showed throughout the game.
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