Leek won the toss and elected to bat on a bright but breezy evening. There had been rain in the build-up to the game, and the outfield looked damp underfoot. The wicket had been covered, but it looked green and played slow throughout the match.
Matt Morris swept Kasun Ekanayake behind square for a boundary as 5 runs came from the first over. Alex Mellor then pulled Joe Thorne for two more boundaries in the second over. The first was struck over mid-wicket for four before the second went all the way for 6 as the young seamer struggled to find his length. Morris hit back-to-back boundaries through the covers in the 4th over as Thorne was too full this time. Leek had made their way to 28/0 rather comfortably at the end of the over.
Theo Abel struggled with his line as he conceded 7 wides before he picked up the wicket of Morris with the last ball of the over as he attempted a big shot over the off-side, only to be well caught by Guy Bridgett, who was under the high ball in the covers. Mellor chopped on to Isaac McKeown from the first ball of the next over when he under-edged a cut shot as Leek lost two wickets in two balls. The situation got worse when Sam Slater was well caught at backward point from the next ball to leave Leek 39/3. They’d lost 3 wickets in 3 balls and now had to rebuild their innings on a difficult pitch. A single came from the final ball of the powerplay as Castle had pulled the situation back well.
The Leek fifty came up with a single from the final ball of the 9th over. The Castle bowlers had conceded just 11 runs in the last 3 overs as they tightened their grip on the batters. Tom Moulton cut a rare short ball away through the covers for a boundary in the next over before McKeown bowled Hamaiz Mahmood to claim his 3rd victim of the evening. After Moulton put away an Abel full toss in the 11th over, the score moved to 61/4. Anis Raza got a stroke of luck in the following over when a fine edge of McKeown beat the keeper and ran away to the boundary at third man.
Leg spinner Mo Rameez instantly found sharp turn and bounce when he came into the attack in the 13th over. He bowled a maiden to Moulton as run scoring became even more difficult for Leek. Moulton smashed an Ekanayaka long hop all the way in the next over to move to 30*. His innings came to an end in the next over when he was caught by Rohan Vallabhaneni on the long-on boundary to leave Leek 84/5. Rameez then bowled Tom Grindey two balls later to leave the visitors in further trouble.
Raza was bowled by Rameez in the 17th over after he attempted a big shot over the leg side, only for the ball to spin back and hit the off stump. Josh Hudson then played a fantastic slog sweep off the leg spinner that cleared the mid-wicket and went out of the ground. Hudson was run out in the 18th over when he could not beat a Rameez direct hit from mid-wicket. Rory Corden struck Thorne for a huge six over mid off to start the final over in style before he was run out by another direct hit, this time by Vallabhaneni as he attempted a second run. Rameez caught Jack Bowcock off the final ball, as Leek were dismissed for 110. The Castle bowlers had been excellent. Rameez was the pick of them; he finished with figures of 3/11 from his 4 overs. Left-armer McKeown backed him up with 3/20, and once Abel found his length, he too bowled well for his 1/23.
Vallabhaneni started the Castle chase well when he struck Raza for a six over long-on in the opening over. Bridgett was then trapped LBW by Hudson in the next over as Castle fell to 8/1. Vallabhaneni struck a full toss to the cover fence before Jon Gidman gloved a short ball down the leg-side, where Mellor took the catch to leave them 18/2 after the eventful second over. Two more boundaries followed for the Castle opener in the 4th over as he drove powerfully over mid-off before carving over cover. He followed that up with an incredible straight six that was struck MS Dhoni style into the sidescreens at the rugby ground end. He had now raced to 30* from just 14 balls.
The hitting continued into the next over as he struck a towering blow over mid-on for his third maximum of the innings. Moulton then bowled Ekanayaka with a searing yorker to leave Castle 46/3 at the end of the powerplay. Raza then spun one through the defences of Thenuka Angoda as Leek took two quick wickets to swing the momentum of the match in their favour. Morris returned to trap Rameez LBW as the Castle collapse continued. A brilliant piece of bowling from Raza then removed the dangerous Vallabhaneni for 42. Having beaten his outside edge with the previous delivery, he bowled a slower and loopier ball that beat Vallabhaneni in the flight as he advanced down the wicket, and Mellor did the rest behind the stumps to leave Castle in trouble at 50/6. It was a good innings from Vallabhaneni, who’d struck the ball cleanly and scored well down the ground. He’d made 42 of the 50 runs scored whilst he was at the wicket and was threatening to win the game on his own.
Ryan Hassett was run out when he couldn’t beat the throw of Corden as he attempted a second run in the next over. Mellor then stumped Ethan Gater off Raza to give the left-arm spinner his 3rd victim of the innings as Castle slumped to 57/8. Abel got a streaky boundary in the next over when he top-edged a pull over the keeper’s head. He then struck Corden for a high and handsome maximum over long on in the next over as he began to look comfortable at the crease. An exquisite extra cover drive followed off Morris in the next over as the number 10 continued to add useful runs to the total.
Thorne scampered well between the wickets as the pair used the long side of the ground to their advantage in the next over. Three twos were added as the score moved to 86/8. Six easy singles followed off the bowling of Morris in the next over as the home crowd started to believe a victory was possible. After more clever running in the next over, Abel struck the final ball for 6 over long-off, a blow that landed on top of the new nets. This meant that Castle required just 6 more for victory.
Thorne scampered a single to mid-off before Abel nudged one into the leg-side before disaster struck for the home side. Thorne squeezed a Moulton yorker out to Slater at backwards point, and Abel set off for a single, only for Thorne to send him back. Slater picked up and threw to Moulton, who took the bails off with Abel just short of his ground. It was a cruel blow for Abel, who had batted so well for his 32. Thorne pushed the final ball of the over to cover to leave the home side requiring 4 runs from the final 2 overs with one wicket in hand.
Hudson beat McKeown’s outside edge with the first delivery as the tension began to mount. He then played 4 perfect forward defences before he was bowled neck and crop by a perfect yorker from Hudson to give Leek victory by just 3 runs. Thorne was left unbeaten on 19 as he just could not get back onto strike in what turned out to be the final over. Raza finished with 3/13 and Hudson 2/20 as Leek eventually snuck home. Abel and Thorne had taken their side to the brink of victory and really do deserve lots of credit. They’d looked dead and buried at 57/8, and they nearly pulled off a remarkable victory in this gripping and fantastic game of cricket.
Leave a Reply