Heywood continue title march

Heywood’s Brendan Taylor slides a shot past the diving Mel Whittle (Oldham).

Skipper Bobby Cross and overseas amateur Royce Blight put Oldham’s bowlers to the sword as Heywood recorded a 138-run win at the Pollards on Saturday (18 July).

Heywood piled on the runs batting first and then Oldham collapsed after a bright start with the bat.

The reigning champions and current leaders are sure to be in the mix when the title race enters its closing stages and possess a clutch of potential match-winners.

Two of them, Cross and Blight, took the game away from Oldham after Heywood were restricted to 104 for three. The pair, close friends off the field as well as formidable allies on it, shared a fourth-wicket stand of 166 as Heywood reached the heady heights of 268 for three after being put into bat by McDonnell, who must have thought the wicket would misbehave after the rain of the previous 24 hours.

Cross ended on an unbeaten 130, while Blight was still there on 86.

None of the five Oldham bowlers escaped punishment as Cross and Blight took their toll in the late overs of the Heywood innings.

After the early loss of Nick Maree, leg before to Will Purser for eight, Oldham shaped promisingly with McDonnell and Abid Fasil-Masih sharing a second-wicket stand of 45.

But once the skipper was caught behind by Danny Pawson off Purser for 23, Oldham were on the back foot despite the continued efforts of Fasil-Masih, who made an excellent 53 before holing out to Heywood professional Brendan Taylor off Blight.

The ball looked sure to clear Taylor at long-off, but the Zimbabwean threw out an arm and clung on to a remarkable one-handed catch.

None of the other Oldham batsmen were able to reach double figures as Purser (three for 33), Chris Kaye (three for 23) and Blight (three for 17) took advantage of a helpful wicket.

And to rub salt in their wounds, Oldham saw professional Mel Whittle leave the field with a suspected break of his left thumb after a delivery from Blight reared off a length.


Middleton recorded a narrow seven run win against Werneth in a tight game at the Coppice.

Professional Ken Skewes hit an unbeaten 88 and Richard Fitton was undefeated on 47 as Middleton scored 176 for four after taking first guard.

But despite a quickfire 50 from paid man Humayun Farhat, Werneth were restricted to 169 for nine, Rick Valentine taking four for 66 and Dale Highton three for 37.


Title challengers Norden recorded another win with a six-wicket victory over Royton.

Former overseas amateur Junior Mitcham was Royton’s deputy pro and made 65 in his side’s total of 164, Zane Arthur taking six for 53.

Norden, for whom Harvey Fitton hit an unbeaten 66, knocked off the runs for the loss of four wickets to secure maximum points.


Scores

Clifton 221-8 (Bullock 68, Harlow 4-46), Walsden 225-4 (Rawlinson 109, Priyadarshana 56 n.o., Adam Rodzoch 3-50); Littleborough 206-8 (Peterson 58, Thewlis 53, Yousaf 5-52), Ashton 207-9 (Bhatti 42, Gaskin 34, Petersen 6-83); Monton and Weaste 49-0 (Maddox 34 n.o.), Rochdale 48 (Scott 7-23); Norden 165-4 (H Fitton 66 n.o.), Royton 164 (Mitcham 65, Arthur 6-53); Radcliffe 102 (Mayes 4-19, Z Khan 4-23), Crompton 105-2 (Lee 45, Zulfiqar 40); Oldham 130 (Fasil-Masih 53, Blight 3-17, Kaye 3-23, Purser 3-33), Heywood 268-3 (Cross 130 n.o., Blight 86 n.o.); Werneth 169-9 (Farhat 50, Valentine 4-66, Highton 3-37), Middleton 176-4 (Skewes 88 n.o., Fitton 47 n.o.); Unsworth v Milnrow - no play.


The semi-finals of the John Willies Lees Twenty20 Competition will be played, weather permitting, on Friday (6.15pm) following two unsuccessful attempts to stage the games at the weekend.

Heywood were scheduled to entertain Werneth, while Clifton were due to play Royton at home on Friday night, but persistent rain ruled out both games.

They were put back until yesterday, with the Royton game in the morning and Werneth match in the afternoon.

But the rain had the final say again so the semis will be played this Friday, with the final rescheduled for Saturday 12 September.