Another Saturday and another 6 points on the board for the Clifton 2s as they beat Stretford by 42 runs, but it was far from plain sailing; you could tell from the energy in the field that they were up against it at times during the second innings. Cricket as it is supposed to be -competitive.
Stretford won the toss and fancied a chase, so out strolled Ethan Kite and make-shift opener Oscar Thorpe, stepping up to open after Luke Jones pulled his back in the warm-up. The opening pair got off to a rock-solid start and at 63/0 after 18 overs a solid platform was set to really kick on.
Ethan (37) was then caught when trying to accelerate and was soon followed back into the shed by Dan (1) and Jordy (2) after both played poor shots early in their innings and wasted the platform that had been set for them.
Sam Winstanley came to the crease and looked to settle in, but a mix up and poor calling from his partner saw him run out for 4 off 21 and 79/4 meant another re-build required.
Lewis Keogh started to take control and took on the Stretford attack, with a 50 partnership alongside Oscar, before yet another run out, where Oscar Thorpe (40) had to make his way back after a solid innings at the top of the order. It then brought the energetic Elliot Hogben to the creasewhere his 22 off 25 to supplement Keogh’s excellent 42 off 48 pushed Clifton upto 182, which you would fancy them to defend against most sides.
However, at 57/0 in the chase, Clifton were staring down the barrel after a tight spell from the bottom end by Tom Worthington (0-13 off 7) wasn’t backed up from the top end where Ethan struggled to control his line and gifting far too many extras to build any pressure.
Dan’s second over from the top end saw two regulation catches go down, and the frustration was evident as the breakthrough just wouldn’t come. It took a run out with a direct hit from Jordy to break the seal and lift the home side, before Dan snicked off the opener to give 12yr old Fred Breidenbach his first senior catch behind the stumps, and the celebrations from the field told you everything. A big moment in the game but all so pleased for young Fred.
At 70/2 it was game on.
Lewis Keogh replaced Tom from the bottom end, but his first 3 overs were littered with wides and frustration, before finally getting one right and through the gate to crash into middle stump. From there his radar improved and with Jordy bowling tight lines from the top end, pressure began to build on the visitors, which boiled over when their captain was inexplicably run out for a duck after a sharp throw in from Dan Jones was cleanly taken by Fred to leave the overseas well short of his ground.
The celebrations exploded again as Fred was nearly knocked to the ground by the lads charging into high five him - I don’t think the u13s high five and hug that hard….
4 balls later came what I find hard to believe will not be catch of the season, with Tom Worthington diving full stretch high to his right to take a one-handed catch at cover, only to see it spill and somehow catch it again after juggling when lying on the ground. Magnificent! At 92/5 the visitors had it all to do, and despite a late flurry from their number 9 with 28 off 18, the rest of them were taken care of with Jordy (3-16 from 7) being the pick of the bowlers.
The win leaves Clifton in 2nd place and still 1pt behind leaders Horwich, but they can’t afford to be bowling so many leg side wides in games against the better sides if they have hopes of moving into Div 4 next season.