Rochdale Premier Cricket League Roundup

Week 2 (7 November)
All teams are in action in the Rochdale Premier Cricket League, giving an exciting start to the second week.

The opening match was between RYCC and Rochdale Lions. After losing the coin toss and being invited to bat first, Rochdale Lions lost both opening batsmen with just 9 runs on the board.

Excellent bowling from RYCC ensured that the Lions couldn’t settle and no other batsmen reached double figures. In 8 overs, Rochdale Lions only managed 45 runs. Gruffan’s excellent bowling got 2 wickets for 3 runs, and Ali Shah made 2 wickets for 4 runs. An excellent batting from Asfaq made 18 runs and Gruffan 16 runs (not out).

RYCC won the match by 7 wickets and 5 overs remaining.

The second match was between Paradise Stars and Rochdalians. Paradise Stars won the toss and decided to bat first, starting well. Chand made 32 runs, Amjad 15 and Madood 11 runs, with 104 runs in 8 overs.

Rochdalian’s Malik’s clever bowling got 3 wickets for 10 runs, but Rochdalians did not respond well, losing their wickets at regular intervals. Only Hameed (20 runs) and Faisal (13 runs) reached double figures.

Paradise stars won the match by 24 runs, with Shahid’s good bowling getting 3 wickets for 9 runs Akeel 2 wickets for 3 runs.

Amazing 8 and Bury Panthers played the day’s third match. Amazing 8 decided to bat first after winning the coin toss, with astounding batting from all batsmen. Shakeel got 35 runs (not out), Honey 20 runs, Amar 21 runs and Kamran 15 runs, with 127 runs total in Amazing 8’s allotted overs.

Bury Panthers could not come back from this, losing both opening batsmen in their first over with only 2 runs on the board. Sajid made 20 runs, and Zulfi and Sardar both made 16 runs, but no other batsmen contributed many runs.

Bowler Naz got 3 wickets for 4 runs, and Shakeel 2 wickets for 6 runs, which restricted Bury Panthers to 83 runs all out. Amazing 8 won the match by 44 runs.

Taking place next in the day was the match between Unique and Thornham CC. After winning the toss, Unique chose to bat first and made 111 runs in 8 overs.

Thornham CC responded well, with James making 34 runs, Amjad 17 runs and Zaffar 15 runs.

At the end of the match, Unique had just managed to pip Thornham to the post, winning by 4 runs.


Week 3 (14 November)
The week started with the match between RYCC and Punjab. RYCC made 110 runs with three wickets down, after winning the toss and electing to bat first.

Good batting from Tayyab gained 30 runs, and Qunain Ali Shah 16 runs (not out). Punjab only made 73 runs, losing the match by 37 runs.

Speed Stars and 8 Lions came next, with Speed Stars batting first. All their batsmen displayed great batting ability, reaching 158 runs – the highest result so far in the tournament.

8 Lions couldn’t respond to this properly, losing the match by 81 runs.

Rochdale Lions and Bury Panthers followed this. Bury Panthers chose to bat first after winning the toss, and made 95 runs in their 8 overs. But Rochdale Lions came back with a roar, winning the match by 4 wickets and with 10 balls to spare.

Paradise Stars and 8 Stars played the fourth match, with Paradise Stars winning the toss and batting first.

Chand’s batting skills netted 29 runs, Siyad 28 runs and Masood 23 runs, totalling 115 runs for Paradise Stars. 8 stars could not challenge this properly, totalling 92 runs and losing the match by 23 runs.

The fifth match that day was between Max 11 and Amazing 8. Max 11 won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring 128 in their 8 overs. Amazing 8’s strong response won them the match by 8 wickets and with 10 balls to spare.

Particularly good batting came from Honey, with 34 runs (not out) and Kamran, with 25 runs.

Next in the day was Unique and Rochdalians. Unique won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring 121 runs in their 8 overs. Mo scored 30 runs (not out) and Noman managed 28 runs (not out), leaving Rochdalians with a battle ahead.

They couldn’t challenge properly though. Faisal made 34 runs, but no other batsmen reached double figures and they lost the match by 35 runs.

The last match of the day was between Lahore Rangers and Thornham CC. Lahore Rangers scored 40 runs after batting first. Bowling from Amjad hit two wickets for 6 runs and Tom Grey 2 wickets for 8 runs. Thornham CC won overall by 8 wickets and 5 overs to spare.

Thanks must go to Tayyab, Haji Zaffar, Qunain Ali Shah and Iqbal for helping with umpiring and scoring duties.