Horwich 1sts Home

Westhoughton 1st XI were left wondering what might have been after a below-par display with the bat. Having been put in to bat by the visitors, Westhoughton once again lost an early wicket with Rob Houghton being dismissed. Slow progress was made as the rain arrived which made batting tough. Westhoughton soon found themselves 22-2 from 18 overs after the restart with Stephen Murdoch dismissed. More tight bowling continued as the Westhoughton batters struggled to pierce the infield and Westhoughotn reached 67-4 from 38 overs, a position they could hopefully build on with some big-hitting batters still left to come in as well as tiring bowlers. However, these plans didnt go to plan as Westhoughton fell from 91-5 after 43 overs, to 103 all out after 47 overs.
Horwich 1st XI were left with a target of 100 to win from 47 overs, and Westhoughton's bowlers made the perfect start picking up an early wicket with Horwich 5-1. Soon after they were 20-2 with their pro dismissed by Kieran Edwards, assisted by a catch from Rob Brown. However, Horwich moved forward to 61 before losing their next wicket as the tactic of swinging the bat and hoping for the best appeared to be working for one of the Horwich batters. His luck soon ran out as he skied one back to Stephen Murdoch who picked up his second wicket to leave Horwich 83-4. Nerves soon began to kick in for the visitors as they were 91-6, Dan Reeve picking up three wickets in total. Westhoughton's lack of runs on the board was the downfall though as the visitors reached their target inside the 30th over, winning by 4 wickets. Once again there were positives to take from the bowling and fielding display, but with areas left to work on with the bat for a hugely important clash with Eagley next week.