Hamer Cup 1st Round

Westhoughton faced Astley Bridge in the 1st round of the Hamer Cup at St George's Oval on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Despite the weather, things looked bleak for the hosts as they found themselves in deep trouble; 8-3 inside the first 5 overs with Rob Houghton (1), Atiq Uz-Zaman (0) and Ian Pilkington (0) all back in the pavillion. After a decent partnership of 38 between Dan Naylor (7) and Qaiser Abbas, Dan was out and something special was needed. A 104 partnership between Kieran Paisley (33) and Abbas (113 from 99 balls) turned the tide as they batted for 22 overs to frustrate the Astley Bridge bowlers. Unfortunately for KP, he didn't reach the 50 that his innings deserved, and Abbas soon followed him back to the pavillion after he was caught at the second attempt at long off, after long on had dropped it! Paul Hart continued his fine form with the bat added 34 that proved to be crucial by the end of the day.
In response, Astley Bridge also got off to a slow start as they were 21-3 inside the first 10 overs thanks to a combination of Qaiser Abbas (5-75 from 20 overs) and Kieran Edwards (1-22 from 10) tightened the screw. A 74 partnership between Rick Northrop (65) and former Westhoughton favourite Irfan Puda (25, at a rather surprisingly slow rate off 62 balls) had seen some worrying from the Westhoughton fielders with a couple of chances going down, but when Puda was caught by Atiq, there was one big wicket left to get. Abbas stepped up once again to take a sharp caught and bowled chance to remove Northrop, and effetively seal the game for the hosts. Atiq picked himseful up a wicket finishing with 1-49 from 10 overs and Paul Hart also chipped in with a wicket (1-33 from 6 overs). Astley Bridge finished 210-9 from their 50 overs, Westhoughton advance to the next round of the Hamer Cup. Opposition and venue are TBC at this point.