Cricket: Le Carpentier catch helps win match for Middleton

A superb catch by 16-year-old Leighton Le Carpentier helped Middleton to victory over Moorside.

Leading Middleton out to bat was the professional, Chris Williams and young Rhys Tierney. Red tape once again precluded the watching overseas amateur Harry Nichols taking to the field.

Opening the bowling for Moorside were Warburton and Jamie Taylor with a maximum 10 overs in this a Wood Cup match.

Both Middleton openers were timing the ball well and looking very comfortable taking the score to 36 when young Rhys was caught by Anchor off the bowling of Warburton.

Joining the pro in the middle was captain George Walker.

In the meantime Chris Williams had moved smoothly onto 30.

Walker kept his defensive play maintained, punished the bad balls and crafted a valuable 44.

Williams was in excellent form, offering no chances whatsoever and with glorious drives on both sides of the wicket, finding the boundary on 17 occasions. Crucially he was going at a run a ball and keeping the scoreboard ticking over. 

With close to a 100 partnership Walker was bowled by Imran Khan bringing the in-form Grant Jones to the wicket. 

Grant quickly got his eye in with a couple of easy singles and with the score on 130 and Williams on 64, the match was nicely in the equilibrium.

Once settled, Grant unleashed a couple of mighty sixes out of the ground onto Turf Pit Lane with straight lifted drives. Spectators breathed a sigh of relief as he cleared the assembled cars in the car park.

Grant moved to the other end of the wicket and pulled a couple of sixes again clear out of the ground onto an adjoining Crown Green bowling club. The next six sent the Crown Greeners running for cover as they implored the Moorside Captain to change his bowlers in order to stop the carnage onto their green.

A fresh bowler made no diffference as he too was promptly dispatched out of the ground.

Moorside Captain Harrington was left scratching his head as he tried seven bowlers as Willaims and Grant built a 130-run partnership before Williams was eventually caught for a glorious 132, his best score to date, including 17 fours.

Zain Tahir arrived and was bizarrely given out stumped off a wide.

Tom Rutter was bowled trying to push the score along.

Grant meanwhile had reached 67 off only 53 balls andn another glorious shot was destined for the boundary when the Moorside pro, Snyden ,made an excellent diving catch to dismiss Grant.

McGuiness and Pete Foden then joined the party hitting sixes before the innings closed on a commendable 297 for 6.

As the players left for the tea fine drizzle appeared and a chilll wind was blowing as the covers came on; the umpires decided in view of the weather to reduce the overs to 42 and runs required to 249.

When the opening pair of Anchor and Gartside made their way out to the middle, the conditions for bowling were dire. Wet outfield, cold wind, drizzle and slippery underfoot, the Middleton team took out a supply of rags in an attempt to keep the ball dry.

The pro, Williams, and spinner Steve McGuiness opened the bolwing for Middleton.

In difficult conditions, both kept the batters behind the run rate and indeed McGuiness gave away less than 50 off his overs, which for a spinner is commendable on such a small ground. However, with a short boundary towards the scoreboard end, the Moorside batters were adept at playing late cuts and scoring fours.

Eventually Williams removed opener Gartside for 14 caught by Walker, which brought Moorside captain, Harrington to the wicket.

Harrington scores quickly and he reached 33 in no time before he was brilliantly run out by Tom Rutter.

The wicket brought the pro and danger man Gerrie Snyman to the crease.

Walker responded by immediately bringing Mike Pritchard into the attack and he struck straight away by removing opener Gartside caught by Walker.

The battle was now on between Pritchard and Snyman with the former bowling the only maiden of the day. Snyman had been joined by the very dangerous Imran Khan.

Pritchard bowled arguably his best spell of the season, nine overs, three wickets for a mere 33 runs. 

He stopped the Moorside juggernaut firmly in its tracks. The run rate which had been advancing well beyond a hundred was slowed right down and when it reached 156 he took the vital wicket of Snyman.

Snyman, who had hit three towering sixes, one of which had taken a car wing mirror clean off, tried to hit Pritchard out of the ground. However, the pace and movement of Pritchard's deliveries meant that the ball went soaring sky high rather than over the boundary

The ball was in the air for what seemed an age and 16-year-old youngster Leighton Le Carpentier who was eyeing the ball hurtling down towards him, with the odd Moorside fan shouting loudly in an attempt to distract him. It was the key moment of the match and Le Carpentier swallowed it up, which led to his team mates sprinting over to him in wild celebration.

Williams and McGuiness combined to each remove the dangerous Havenga and Khan whilst McGuiness then removed Craig Taylor.

The game was wrapped up by Mike Pritchard when he had Fullalove caught and bowled to give him three well deserved wickets and Moorside 207 all out.