Match Report
LAST OVER VICTORY
Leyland Motors 199-5
St Annes 203-7
Gerry Wolstenholme
A morning of heavy rain looked as though it may prevent play in the game at Vernon Road on Saturday but the skies cleared and when St Annes won the toss and asked Leyland Motors to bat, only six of the 57 scheduled overs had been lost. In their 51 overs Motors scored an impressive 199-5 with almost 68% of their runs coming from professional Atif Ashraf who made a superb 135. St Annes lost early wickets in reply but a good middle order display enabled them to come through in the end in the final over and win by three wickets with 203-7.
It was obvious that when Motors batted that they relied heavily on Atif Ashraf and it was he who did most of the early scoring, using his wrists to good effect for runs on the leg side as is the wont of many players from the sub-continent. His partner Faruk Patel was sedentary by comparison and when he was out with the total on 34 he had contributed five of the runs. Dave Taylor caught him at point off Richard Thomas and this brought James Aspinwall to the wicket. He made a more productive partner for Ashraf but the professional still did most of the scoring, adding one or two attractive cover drives to his leg side runs.
Ashraf, on 58, was dropped off a very difficult above the head return catch to Thomas as the pair added 74 runs in only 56 minutes before Dave Taylor took his second catch, this time at mid-off, from Aspinwall off Jimmy Adams and he was gone for 15 at 108-2. Peter Cummings made five before a tumbling Adrian Darlington at point took a catch off Adams and it was 133-3.
On 98 Ashraf had a second escape when he was missed off a very difficult, low chance to Adam Cotton at slip and the ensuing single took him to 99 and in the following over, the 35th, he reached a deserved century. As his partner in a stand of 47 for the fourth wicket he had Andrew Makinson who struck two superb cover drives and a straight six in his cameo innings of 22 made from 39 balls. He was out when he drove a catch sharply back to Stephen Twist who held on and Motors were 180-4.
Meanwhile Ashraf continued his one-man scoring spree and, although he put one in the air jus fractionally out of reach of long-off just after the century, he had advanced to 135 when he played an out-of-character shot, a slog that ended up in the safe hands of Adams at deep extra cover. He had faced 153 balls and his innings included 15 fours and five sixes and on his dismissal Motors ere 189-5. David Makinson, eight not out, and Richard Rounding, six not out, took the final total to 199-5 from the 51 overs. Twist had 2-50, Adams 2-71 and Thomas 1-34.
The St Annes reply was soon in tatters as wicketkeeper Matt Watkinson combined with Iqbal 'Dennis' Lilley and Sifton Prince to have them in deep trouble at 14-3. First to go was Charles Boucher when he flashed at a ball from Lilley for the catch behind without a run on the board. Darlington received a lifting ball from Prince and he succeeded in getting an edge also and he had gone without scoring at 6-2. And it was 14-3 when Twist, who had already had a life when an edge flashed through the slips at catchable height to reach the boundary, held his bat out to Prince and once again the resultant edge was taken with ease.
A somewhat subdued Adams and Joe Davies then had to start to rebuild the innings and with the latter making most of the running they took the total to 40 before Davies, 23, carved a ball high in the air to extra cover where Rounding held the catch off David Makinson. Adams continued his watchful innings with Russ Bradley as his partner but when he had made 28 in 94 minutes from 64 balls and with three boundaries he prodded David Makinson to Colin Sibley at forward short leg and St Annes were 84-4.
It was 98-5 at the start of the final 20 overs with St Annes needing 102 for victory. And Adam Cotton made his usual belligerent runs but when he had reached 13 Ashraf bowled him as he essayed a wild shot across the line and that was 103-6. Then came the best batting of the innings as Bradley and Duncan Whalley proceeded to take St Annes more rapidly towards their target. They both batted confidently and both played some attractive shots as Motors rotated their bowling to try to upset the batsmen's concentration.
It did not work for in 50 minutes the pair added 83 runs before Bradley, a season's best 69 made from 111 balls with 10 finely struck boundaries, tried to cut a ball from David Makinson that kept low and once again the splendid Watkinson held onto the catch and that was 186-6 with a run-a-ball required for victory. Twelve runs were needed from the final two overs and in the penultimate over Adam Taylor made the task so much easier with a delightful straight drive for four followed by a swiftly run tow from a misfiled off the following ball. Five runs were then required from the final over but only two balls were needed as Whalley struck David Makinson for two boundaries, the second of which through extra cover took St Annes to victory by three wickets at 203-7. Whalley finished on 45 not out made from 64 balls with five fours and one six and Adam Taylor was seven not out.
A relieved skipper Stephen Twist said afterwards, "We made hard work of that after the loss of those three early wickets. But Jimmy dug in and then Russ and Duncan batted splendidly to put us close to the win. It was a good effort by the boys and I am delighted with the 12 points."
