Agony for 1st XI in Last Wicket Thriller.
It was a game of fine margins at Manchester Road on Saturday, as Royton escaped with the points by virtue of a one wicket win in a game that swing to and fro throughout the game.
The defining criteria was nothing close to a fine margin however as, once again, the middle order batting dissolved in the face of some skillful spin bowling from Royton pro Buddila. Batsmen 4,5,6 and 7 racked up 110 runs for the visitors. Clifton's response from those same batsmen, was a paltry 22.
The game started brightly for Matt Van Dyk and Jack Stanley who scored freely in the early overs putting on 51 for the first wicket. The introduction of spin applied the brakes however, with the batsmen particularly mesmerised by the left arm spin of the Royton pro who took 5-28 in his 15 overs, that including seven wides. Only Matt, who carried his bat for the entire 50 overs and finished on 66 not out, was able to graft his way through the mayhem. The final score of 156 set a decent challenge however, on a wicket that had turned luminous green by the previous evening's rain.
So it proved as Ollie Sleight tore into the top order and reduced them to 5-2. There followed a number of telling double figure partnerships as some unplayable deliveries were interspersed with loose ones that were dispatched with aplomb. The game remained in the balance right up to the ninth wicket falling on 150 with seven still needed for victory, but the sense of anti-climax was palpable as first a wide and then a massive six ended the game.
The firsts are now looking worriedly over their shoulders as several lower placed clubs achieved winning points, with a GMCL20 game to negotiate before an important game at Horwich next weekend.