Scorecard

Sileby Town v Broomleys Cricket Club 1st XI on Sat 12 May 2012 at 1.00
Broomleys Cricket Club Won by 2 wickets

Match report Broomleys 1st XI got their season off to a flying start as they defeated Sileby Town by two wickets in a final over thriller.

Captain Warren Birchall hit the winning runs with just a ball to spare as the Witches secured full 24 points on Saturday against a side that had finished third in the division last season.

Having had their first two matches abandoned due to rain, this was the first league outing for the newly-promoted Broomleys side.

The Sileby ground staff had performed a miraculous job getting the ground fit as it had been submerged under a foot of water just days before.

Birchall won the toss and elected to field. Gethin King and Ryan Daniels opened the batting for Sileby as new signings Atif Sheikh and Zac Howard took the new ball for the visitors.

Australian Howard (2-34) got Broomleys off to the perfect start, having King (5) caught at slip with the second ball of his spell before removing Daniels for 18.

When Sileby captain Liam Kinch was dismissed by Billy Read (3-47) for just three, his side were struggling on 39-3.

However, a partnership of 95 between Aleem Mahmood (58) and Luke Gale (36) tipped the balance back in the host’s favour.

But two fine spells of spin bowling from Birchall (3-28) and Mitchell Buck (1-29) wreaked havoc with the Sileby middle order as they collapsed from 134-3 to 140-7.

Dave Torr (29) showed dogged resistance before Read and Sheikh (1-49) mopped up the tail in the 48th over, closing the innings on 201 all out.

This meant Broomleys had two extra overs to chase down their target – and these would prove vital.
The Witches’ chase got off to the worst possible start as opener Jack Berrisford was out first ball of the innings, adjudged LBW to Matt Ellis.

Number three Scott Moore almost suffered the same fate, but a deafening appeal was eventually turned down by the umpire.

He took advantage of his reprieve and batted well in the difficult conditions. He rode his luck and was dropped twice on his way to 61, before eventually being caught off the bowling Ellis (4-31).

He was supported well by the explosive Buck (36) and the ice-cool Irfan Karim (36) who both made vital contributions.

Broomleys had made steady progress towards their total but when Howard (18) was bowled by Ellis at the end of the penultimate over, the Witches were still seven runs short of their target with six balls to go.

James Sharpe was partnered by Shiekh with the bat, while Mahmood (2-37) would take the ball for the hosts.

Sharpe picked up a single off the first ball of the over before Sheikh chopped down on a Mahmood  yorker and it flew off the inside edge and down to the boundary at fine leg for a much-needed boundary.

Sheikh attempted to put the third ball into orbit but merely succeeded in having his off-stump removed.

Needing just two runs to win from the last three balls, captain Birchall strode to the crease.

Mahmood kept to his full length and Birchall could only manage to keep it out, unable to score from it.

Sileby, who tied with Kibworth last week, were no strangers to such close encounters.

The penultimate ball was déjà-vu of the second as a good yorker-length ball from Mahmood was squirmed away by Birchall.

The bowler could only watch on in despair as the ball raced away over the fine leg boundary to jubilant cheers from the Broomleys’ players.

The Broomleys’ innings closed on 204-8 from 51.5 overs, with the visitors securing victory by two wickets.

Vice-captain Guy Collier said it was a very gutsy performance.

But, he added: “We must not dwell on it - this is going to be a long, hard season and it is essential that we keep improving with every game.”

The Witches host Kegworth Town on Saturday when ex-Broomleys veteran Mark Pearce could make a return to his former club.

Sileby Town Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 16w 1b  
for 10 wickets
21
201 (47.1 overs)		     
Gethin King ct  Buck Bowled Howard 5
Ryan Daniels ct  Read Bowled Howard 18
Liam Kinch ct  Birchall Bowled Read 3
Aleem Mahmood ct  Sharpe Bowled Buck 58
Luke Gale ct  Collier Bowled Birchall 36
Dave Torr b  Read 29
Richard Preston lbw  Birchall 1
Sam Gale ct  Sharpe Bowled Birchall 0
Jordan King b  Sheikh 11
Asim Khan b  Read 18
Matt Ellis Not Out  1

Broomleys Cricket Club 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Atif Sheikh7.1049149.006.84
Zac Howard9.0234217.003.78
Billy Read8.0047315.675.88
Warren Birchall10.012839.332.80
Mitchell Buck10.0129129.002.90
Jack Berrisford3.001300.004.33

Broomleys Cricket Club 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 11w 4b 5lb 
for 8 wickets
21
204		        
Jack Berrisford lbw  Ellis 0 1 0
David Bates lbw  Khan 18 52 1 34.62
Scott Moore ct  Kinch Bowled Ellis 61 114 5 2 53.51
Mitchell Buck b  S Gale 36 55 5 1 65.45 1
Irfan Karim ct  King Bowled Mahmood 36 56 1 64.29
Zac Howard b  Ellis 18 19 2 94.74
Guy Collier lbw  Ellis 4 6 1 66.67 1
James Sharpe Not Out  2 3 66.67 2
Atif Sheikh b  Mahmood 4 30 1 13.33
Warren Birchall Not Out  4 2 1 200 1
Billy Read  

Sileby Town Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Matt Ellis11.023147.752.82
Jordan King10.023400.003.40
Aleem Mahmood10.5037218.503.42
Asim Khan5.0030130.006.00
Liam Kinch10.014000.004.00
Sam Gale5.0023123.004.60

  • Umpire :
  • Scorer :
    John Holmes