A strong third team made the short away trip to local side Prestwich to get their season underway.
New captain for the season Stephen McManus won his first toss of the year and elected to bat on which looked like a decent wicket. In went the openers Ethan Kite and Daniel Jones who got off to a low scoring but steady start with the new ball swinging around.
Prestwich eventually found the breakthrough they were looking for with Daniel jones falling for a solid 25 after being bowled by leg spinner Finlay Lester which left Clifton 38 for 1 after 15.4 overs. In came captain Steve looking for his first runs of the season.
After a steady start Steve knew we had to increase the run rate and after hitting a couple into the trees he looked in good shape. Shortly after opener Ethan kite was caught at mid-off for a steady 16. Sam Winstanley then joined the captain at the crease as they both looked to keep increasing the run rate. Steve was then bowled for an important 41 and young Sam was joined by experienced Christopher lord. Unfortunately, Chris lord’s stay was a short one (9) and Lewis Keogh entered the pitch. Lewis (3) then fell to a full toss and Sam once again had a new partner in the middle with him in Jack Barton.
Jack new his role and went out with intent which was obvious from the start after he hit 7 from his first 4 deliveries. Sam then fell and Owen joined Barton at the crease. After some quick running from them both and more big hitting from Barton Clifton finished on a decent score of 185 for 7. Top scores Jack Barton, Stephen McManus, and Sam Winstanley all finished on 41 but Jack stood out as it only took him 22 balls to hit his 41 where he was stumped on the penultimate ball of the innings.
Clifton then took the ball and opened with Lewis Keogh from one end and Tom Worthington from the other. After a brilliant opening spell and brilliant stumping by captain Steve Lewis ended up with 3 wickets and tom ended up with 1. This meant Clifton had Prestwich 22 for 4 after just 10.5 overs but still with plenty of work to do.
After Lewis and tom had finished their spells on came the Hogben brothers Elliot and Owen to try and slow the increasing run rate. After a poor start with the ball Elliot eventually picked up the Prestwich opener after he was caught by jack Barton at mid-off. Younger brother Owen eventually picked up the wicket he was waiting for at the other end bowling the Prestwich batsmen for 37. Daniel jones then replaced Elliot (42-1 off 6) in the bowling attack and quickly got a wicket after wrapping the Prestwich batsman on the pads. After Owen (27-1 off 10) had bowled out and Dan (22-1 off 4) had a bowled a good spell Steve turned to openers Lewis and Tom (14-1 off 7.5) to try and pick up the remaining wickets. Lewis quickly got his 4th of the game as Steve also picked up his 2nd stumping. Just as tom was about to finish his first over in his 2nd spell the heavens opened and the umpires brought the players off with neither side knowing what the DLS score was. Shortly after the umpires decided to call the game with puddles quickly forming all over the Prestwich square. After a long wait whilst the scorers and the umpires worked out the DLS it was then figured out that Clifton had won their first game of the season by 18 runs after a brilliant team performance. Lewis Keogh was the standout bowler finishing with figures of 23 for 4 after 8 overs.
They now look forward to the first round of the cup at home against Woodbank next Sunday!