Egerton 1sts Away 2013

On a day where rain was forecast, Egerton batted first and got off to a sluggish start, reaching 30-3 as Kieran Edwards (2-21 from 10) kept things tight alongside the pro Qaiser Abbas who also picked up a wicket early on. After a couple of decent partnerships of 42 and 41, Abbas continued to add more wickets to his total, finishing with 4-71 from 25 overs, supported well by Atiq Uz-Zaman who took 2-37 from 9 overs. The hosts finished on a respectable 166-9 from their 50 overs.
In response, Westhoughton needed a revised total of 141 from 37 overs. After losing Atiq (14) early on, Abbas and captain/birthday boy Ian Pilkington shared a partnership of 63 before Pilky was dismissed LBW for 33. Despite only being 2 wickets down, Westhoughton now needed 52 from 9 overs. As Abbas continued on his way at his pace, new batters came and went as they tried to up the scoring rate. This included Dan Naylor (4), Kieran Paisley (4), Rob Brown (0, run out without facing a ball), and Paul Hart (3). The run rate fell as the visitors now needed 27 from 3 overs. This was when Abbas turned up the tempo by hitting two straight sixes in five balls, leaving Westhoughton with 13 from 12 balls. Only four were scored off the last over, leaving 9 from 6 balls. With 6 scored from the first 2 balls, Westhougton looked in control with Abbas on 76. However, he was bowled, the next ball went for 1 leg bye and then another wicket fell. Westhoughton now needed 2 from 1 ball as Kieran 'just call me the finisher' Edwards strode to the crease. What followed saw a waist high, leg side, full toss which Kieran managed to fend off for what looked to be 1 run to square leg, who slipped on the infamous Egerton slope, missing the ball in the process and allowing Kieran and Jason to scramble through for a second run.
This was an important away win for the lads who head into another double-header weekend on 29/30th June.