Bamford u15s through to final

Bamford Fieldhouse Cricket Club

Making their third trip to Saddleworth this season proved worthwhile for Bamford as they beat their opponents to claim a place in the Leicester Shield Final where they will meet Greenfield.

Joe Smith-Butler and Alex Willis got the visitors off to a bright start before Willis was neatly stumped by Hardy off the bowling of Scott.  Abbu Alam then joined Smith-Butler and they put on 55 in 9 overs before Smith-Butler (34) was run out on the back of a great throw to the stumps.  Ahmed Nawaz and Alam then set about the home bowling and the boundaries came thick and fast.  Alam was the first of the pair to go, retiring with his third half century of the season and Hardy then stumped Nawaz for 39 off 26 balls.  The Bamford innings ended at 153 for 4.

Nawaz and Smith-Butler put Saddleworth on the back foot straight away with some accurate fast bowling which caused the score stumble to 29 for 3 off 8 overs.  Corbett and Holt though kept the innings together picking up runs where they could and defending stoutly.  The introduction of the slow bowlers gave them some relief and the score moved on until Adam Ahmed picked up 3 wickets for 30.  A couple of run outs and a caught and bowled for Joe Mitchell saw Saddleworth all out for 99 and Bamford into the final.

A special mention must go to Ben Garside who was a reluctant wicket-keeper on the night but who turned in a good performance, keeping the byes to a minimum getting a run out and coming very close with a couple of stumpings.