Rochdale edge Milnrow in thrilling opener to cricket season

Lee Crabtree hits the winning shot
Milnrow CC v Rochdale CC

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Rochdale edged Milnrow in a thrilling opener to the cricket season at Ladyhouse in the Lake Garage Central Lancashire League Premier Division yesterday (Sunday 14 April).

Batting first, Milnrow put on 197, a high score that at 60-5 Rochdale looked unlikely to achieve.

A nervy Rochdale did not look confident of reaching the target but a couple of very good batting performances saw fours and sixes being hit to all sides of the ground to set up a tense finale.

In the nail-biting finish to game, Rochdale looked to have the game sewn up needing just six runs from two overs with four wickets in hand until the Milnrow bowlers stepped up to the mark and three Rochdale wickets fell in quick succession in the penultimate over.

In the final over, with Rochdale needing four off the last two balls and the eleventh man facing the bowling, Milnrow clearly expected to win, but that expectation was thwarted when the eleventh man, Lee Crabtree, who hadn't scored any of the needed runs off the first four balls of the last over and didn't look like scoring, flashed his bat at the penultimate ball, ball hit bat and flew past slip and off to the boundary for the four runs needed to win the game.