Fab Four?
It's a mega bounty of cricket news today as I catch up on two weeks of star-studded Riddlesden action!
First up was our home game against Foulridge. I missed our innings having lunch and watching a spot of cricket with some Canadians in balmy Bradley, but the boys did well scoring a good 181 with strong contributions from Qaddy (47) Ibrar (42) and Akeel (23). I returned in time to watch a professional demolition of Foulridge's top order by Arfan (2-28)and Zain (3-40), before Qaddy picked up a couple to leave our visitors reeling at 68-6. A 91 run partnership then caused a fair bit of concern but when Qaddy and Danny combined to break it, victory was in sight. However, as the sun got lower in the sky, the tension mounted further as the scoreline crept ever closer to our total. With just 2 runs needed, Akeel bowled a Jaffa to take the final wicket and win a nail biter!
Tuesday evening saw the short trip along to Crossflatts for the Keighley Cup quarter final. This was always going to be tricky against the current league leaders and so it proved. Batting first, Crossflatts amassed a massive 220 off their 20 overs with our good friend/former player Shanny doing the bulk of the damage with a rapid 71 from 32 balls. Needing to score quickly in response, Shanny then went on to take two wickets in his first over. A magnificent 75 from Akeel and a captain's 46 from Gully ensured that we weren't humiliated, finishing on 154 - 7. Crossflatts have had much bigger wins than that this season, so whilst beaten, the team can hold their heads high.
Saturday was an away game at Thornton-in-Craven, a picturesque setting in the middle of nowhere. Having won the toss, Gully elected to put the home side in to bat and was rewarded early with the prize scalp of Kevin Pollard for just 11. Wickets fell steadily - particularly to Gully who finished with 6 wickets - but Thornton still set a challenging total of 183. Disaster struck first ball as Mick was caught, according to the Thornton tweet 'in the manner of Ben Stokes' by Pollard. Qaddy and Arfan fared little better, but then came the batting maestros - Akeel (60 not out), Gully (40) and Ibrar (61 not out) - all are on top form at the moment, and it is particularly pleasing to Ibrar doing so well after his injury earlier in the season. In the end it was a comfortable victory with 10 overs to spare!
Finally Sunday was the much anticipated cup semi-final at Embsay. We went into in high hope - on a good run with several players firing on all cylinders. Unfortunately things didn't go to script. Embsay batted first and rode their luck somewhat as they amassed an opening partnership of 143 before Steve Kernan affected a run out. That was to be the only wicket to fall as they posted 151 from their 20 overs. A valiant effort with the bat from Akeel (again!) with 53 and 23 from Habib just wasn't enough as we fell 7 runs short. Maybe it was one game too far in the time period?
So that's us caught up. This week we're at home to Bingley Congs who are top of the table and soundly thrashed us at their place earlier in the season. A bit of revenge would be nice!
And a quick reminder that we're holding the annual Manorlands fun day on Sunday 4th August - any help will be appreciated, and we'd love you all to spread the word and come down to support the cause. It'll be fun - it's in the name!