Burton Leonard vs Helperby

Helperby

Burton Leonard vs Helperby (Away) 27th June 09
Helperby Won By 5 runs

After 6 victories on the bounce, Burton Leonard’s 1st team turned up to the much improved ground, still full of confidence and tails firmly up in anticipation of what would transpire against 2nd place and another in-form team in Helperby CC.

The all important coin toss was won by Helperby’s Skipper Shaun Sowray, and after much thought, chose to bat first. With a hard, dry looking surface, big runs could be the call for the day!!

Bowling
Helperby started strongly, posting 47 off the first 8 overs, the opening bowlers struggling to maintain a consistent line and length and were punished, by the Aussie Blandford in particular, whenever anything loose was served up. He was given a lifeline however when dropped off a skier attempting to hook a Murray delivery that ‘got big’ on him. This drop was to prove costly. Burton continued with more sloppy work in the field as they struggled to do the basics right and got nowhere near the high standards they usually set with Helperby reaching 75-0 off 10 overs.

Dan Thirkell was brought into the attack much earlier than both he and captain would have liked and after 4 tight overs made the vital breakthrough, forcing the Aussie into a leading edge and the simple catch taken at cover - Blandford gone for a classy 77. Thirkell continued another brilliant spell of bowling, claiming another 3 wickets, being rewarded for some excellent lines and some canny trickery in particular to claim the LBW. Thirks after 2 spells finishing with an excellent 4-49

Chris Parker was brought into the attack and with Burton now going for the jugular, Cooky proved a handful and very economical with some good leg spin bowling. Eventually being rewarded for giving it some air to finish with 2-48. Mark Fox was also brought back into the attack and he too was rewarded for a much improved second spell picking up 2 wickets to finish 2-38, one in particular thanks to another sharp stumping from keeper James Townsend.

Skipper Neil Blaken (2-31) brought himself on for a 2nd spell and there was also a clear improvement as he claimed two wickets in as many balls, closing the Helperby innings and claiming the point for Burton with just 2 overs remaining. Helperby posting 264 after a quick fire start, some consolidating in the middle overs and some aggressive hitting from the middle order R Davenport (30), P Orton (30) and J Hardy (31) late on

Batting
After a fantastic tea, Wray and Stansfield strode out to the wicket with a clear view of the task in hand, a steady start ensued. With some tight bowling from Cavanagh and Corner (Andrew Symonds look-a-like) together with a slow outfield, a big boundary and some monumental 3’s Burton were 39-0 off 10 overs. Stanner reached his 50, but as the 3’s took their toll, soon played a somewhat tired shot, which was snaffled in the deep - Stansfield gone for an impressive 55.

Wray continued about his work as usual and the new batsmen Rangeley sensibly batted around him taking singles and bringing Wray back onto strike. Wray completed his 50, keeping his averages ticking over much to the delight of the other Burton batsmen! Having found easy runs hard to come by Rangeley was forced to try and up the run rate and chipped a drive straight to cover - BAS gone for 13. Wray soon followed, again trying to force the rate, caught for another classy 58.

This brought Chopper Thirkell and Hamstring Crawshaw together at the crease. They added 36 before Crawsh was caught in the deep for a quick fire 21. Townsend came to the crease, but the quick scoring bearded fellow was only able to add 3 before succumbing to another good catch at long off. Fox was pushed a place up the order, as his big hitting style seemed to suit the run chase. Ace didn’t not disappoint as he kept the score ticking at one end as Thirkell started to get going at the other. Some ‘classic’ Twenty20 clear the left leg and aim for cow shots, producing maximums on a regular occasion. Fox was gone however, after his mate, the Aussie, took a skier, for an entertaining 24.

This left 16 runs required off 7 balls to win. Skipper Blaken to the crease. 1 run was made off the final ball of the penultimate over. 15 required off the last over. After picking up 4 runs off 4 balls, Blaken was facing with 2 sixes required to win, 2 balls remaining, could the captain finish the game in style and lead the boys home in fairytale fashion ??..................................No. Cavanagh bowls a short one, Blaken pulls into midwicket, only 1 run on offer! Last ball of the over Thirkell fittingly hits it through extra cover for 4, ending on 71 not out , Burton falling 5 short in the run chase.

A fantastic game for the neutrals, neck and neck all the way the between 2nd and 3rd place teams in the league. Congratulations to Helperby for a fantastic performance in the field especially.

Praise goes to Dan Thirkell for a great performance in the field, with the bat and especially with the ball, leading the turnaround with some experienced bowling. James Townsend gave another fantastic performance behind the stumps claiming two of the fielding points, again!

Unfortunately Burton paid the price for poor work in the field for first 15 overs and learnt a hard lesson about what happens when they allow their standards to slip. But positives to take in the way they turned the game around from an ominous position.

This entry was posted on Monday June 29th, 2009 at 6:00 PM and is filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.

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