It’s the final round of pink ball fixtures today, and it’s an important game for both sides at Ripon Road today. Whitmore find themselves winless and rooted to the foot of the table. Longton sit only 6 points and 1 place above them. A defeat for Whitmore today could see them cut adrift at the bottom of the table, but a win could take them above the home side.
Whitmore won the toss and elected to bat in warm but breezy conditions. The wicket looks white and as though it should have some pace and bounce in it for the seamers. Longton will have to make the most of the new ball as conditions couldn’t be better for batting.
Caleb Mierkalns and Danyal Hussain both struck early boundaries before Mierkalns offered a difficult chance to mid off in the 3rd over. Brodie Mack then had Mierkalns caught at long on in the 4th over as he fell into a carefully laid Longton trap with Ewan Farnell taking a simple catch. After some excellent bowling by Tom Hope and Mack, the pressure began to build, and Longton were rewarded when Ryan Roberts dragged an attempted reverse sweep into his stumps off the bowling of Mack to leave Whitmore 18/2 after 8 overs.
Roberts’ dismissal then set off an extraordinary Whitmore collapse over the next 13 balls. Hope had Hussain caught behind with a delivery that moved away off the seam, and keeper Andrew Coxon took a simple catch. Two balls later, he bowled an absolute snorter that bounced off a length and caught the edge of Muhammad Imran’s bat to reduce Whitmore to 18/4. Mack then beat the defences of Matt McAll with a fine off-break to send him on his way before Hope got another ball to leave Aaqil Mohideen, and he could only edge through to Coxon to leave the Whitmore innings in absolute disarray at 18/6 in the 11th over.
Saad Qureshi struck two boundaries in the 12th over to finally give Whitmore fans something to cheer about as the rebuilding effort began. Whitmore made it to 33/6 at the first drinks interval. Their aim must be to bat as long as they can just to give themselves something to bowl at in the second innings. Fraser James was then dropped by Hope two balls after play resumed as he couldn’t hold onto a sharp low chance at slip.
Hope’s fantastic 9-over spell ended with figures of 3/17. He was unplayable at times. His length was excellent, and he offered the batters very few scoring opportunities whilst testing them on and around off stump. His opening partner, Mack, finished his 9 overs with 3/21. His off-spin was probing, and he also continually asked questions of the batters.
Qureshi rode his luck when he attempted a big shot off left-arm spinner Matheesha Perera when he advanced down the pitch and skied the ball just wide of mid on. James then edged to Hope, who took a smart catch low down as a useful partnership ended and Whitmore fell to 43/7. Bilal Hussain then smashed Perera over cow corner for a big six to bring up the Whitmore 50 in the 22nd over. Qureshi was put down on the mid-wicket boundary in the 26th over as he continued to ride his luck. He was then dropped by the keeper Coxon off the bowling of off-spinner Nilan Priyadarshan in the following over as Longton were beginning to throw their early advantage away.
Whitmore reached 72/7 at the 30-over mark when the second drinks break was taken. Apart from losing James, they’d accumulated steadily and struck the occasional boundary. They’ll be the happier of the two sides after their disastrous start. If they can get up to a score of 130, they’ll be in with a chance in this match as the wicket is showing signs of uneven bounce.
Mack then took an excellent catch when play resumed. Hussain went for a big hit into the leg side and got a top edge; the ball flew high over the head of Coxon, but Mack was alert and ran back from slip to judge the catch perfectly and end a useful innings of 14 from Hussain to leave Whitmore 75/8. A chance went begging in the 32nd over when Hasnain Mazhar skied the ball into the covers, but the catch could not be taken. Longton’s fielding had begun to look ragged, and it didn’t help when Perera missed a difficult chance off his own bowling in the 35th over.
Qureshi brought up his 50 in the 38th over when he struck Perera into the hotel car park. It was an innings full of grit but not an aesthetically pleasing one to watch. He was dropped several times and played and missed often during his innings, but it’s an important one for Whitmore, given their situation in this match. He’d scored five 4’s and hit one six. Perera finally dismissed Qureshi when he trapped him LBW when he misread the length of a delivery, playing back when he should have been forward. His 53 was like gold dust to Whitmore, and he added 38 valuable runs with Mazhar for the 9th wicket.
Dilesh Gunarathne then added a fantastic 38* from just 22 balls in a frantic final five overs. He took 10 runs from the 42nd over when he struck Perera for a six into the car park and then smote him through the covers for a boundary to end the over. He then took two further boundaries of Dane Tinsley in the 44th over as the Whitmore score went to 140/9. He struck Farnell for two more massive sixes in the final over, the first over midwicket and the second over long-off. He then ran the ball down to third man for another boundary, as a total of 18 runs were scored from the final over. The last wicket had added a remarkable 45 runs in just 32 balls as Whitmore closed on 158/9 from their 45 overs. The lower order added 83 for the final two wickets, and huge praise must also go to Mazhar, who played an excellent supporting role with 18* from 37 balls, first supporting Qureshi and then watching the Gunarathne blitz from the other end.
The Whitmore lower order had given their side a chance to pull off a remarkable victory in this game that was almost unthinkable two hours ago when they were 18/6. Longton haven’t helped themselves with some poor fielding and now must turn the tide after tea to see if they can win this match.
Coxon edged just short of the diving James in the 2nd over to get Longton’s chase up and running. He was then trapped LBW by a vicious inswinger from Gunarathne that hit him bang in front as Longton were reduced to 5/1 in the 4th over. Michael Dyer finally got off the mark when he cut his 17th delivery away past point for a boundary in the 5th over. Hope struck a sweetly timed leg glance for a boundary through mid wicket before he edged Gurarathne through to keeper James to leave Longton 14/2 in the 6th over.
Longton made their way to 27/2 when the power play ended. Whitmore had been excellent with the ball, and their bowlers continuously asked questions of the batters. They’d beaten the bat on numerous occasions so far. Dyer became Gunarathne’s 3rd victim of a fine opening spell when he bowled the left-hander with a ball that moved away from him and hit the off stump to leave Longton in deep trouble at 30/3 after 10 overs. Dane Tinsley struck McAll for two boundaries through the covers in the 13th over to move the score to 38/3.
Bilal Hussain then trapped Perera LBW with a full ball in the next over. Perera played back when he really should have been forward. With his demise, Longton had slipped to 38/4 when the drinks were brought out onto the field. Alex Thorley and Tinsley scored three boundaries in the following three overs as Longton desperately searched for a partnership to give themselves a chance of fighting back. But the impressive Muhammad Imran, who’d bowled a great opening spell for no reward, returned to bowl Tinsley with a ball that kept very low. Tinsley had batted well for his 17 but was powerless to do anything with the ball from Imran that practically rolled along the ground after it pitched on a good length. Longton were 51/5 after he fell, and their hopes now all hung with Thorley.
Thorley continued to battle hard. He struck a powerful boundary through the covers before the ever accurate Hussain trapped him LBW for 21 in the 26th over to leave Longton in further trouble at 68/6. With Thorley’s dismissal, Longton looked like a beaten team. Matters were not helped when Priyadarshan walked across his stumps and was plumb LBW from Hussain’s next delivery to leave the Longton innings in ruins.
Farnell hit a Mohideen long hop for six over mid off as he showed intent against the Whitmore spinners. He then slapped a Hussain delivery through the covers in the next over as the score moved to 85/7. Hussain claimed his 4th victim when he bowled Mack with a ball that pitched on middle and spun away to hit his off stump, beating his forward defensive stroke in the process. Farnell’s cameo came to an end when Imran returned and knocked his stumps over to leave Longton on the brink at 87/9. The last pair survived 7 overs before Alfie Ridgeway, who struck a towering six over mid off, was caught by Danyal Hussain at backward point off the bowling of Gunarathne.
Longton were dismissed for 107 to give Whitmore victory by 51 runs. The ever-accurate Hussain claimed 4/22 from his 9 overs. Gunarathne claimed 4/23 after his impressive opening spell blew the Longton top order away. Whitmore thoroughly deserved their victory, and their lower-order batters cannot be praised enough. They showed dogged determination when their backs were well and truly against the wall in the first innings. Longton will rue missed chances when they had their opponents in massive trouble earlier in the day. They now slip to the bottom of the table and have a lot of work to do this season. It’s a confidence-boosting victory for Whitmore, on the other hand, who’ll look to push on after their tough start to the season.
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