24 May 2008, Lindow 1st XI vs. Castrol (A)
Lindow by a Nose
Castrol 155 all out, Lindow 156 for 8
Lindow (25pts) beat Castrol (12) by 2 wickets
Lindow’s first league win of the season was a tight and tense affair that ebbed and flowed throughout before the visitors reached the winning post after ‘keeper Neil Burgoyne took a nasty and bloody blow on the nose while batting, but overcame it to make an important contribution to the win.
Lindow started well after losing the toss, as both opening bowlers Ahmed (1 for 20) and Taylor (2 for 26) struck early blows on a pitch showing some lateral movement and uneven bounce. Andy Hume followed up this opening burst with two more quick wickets and Homi Masud (1 for 39) added another to have Lindow on top with Castrol 51 for 5. The home side counterattacked, though, as Garrett played aggressively to make 24 of a stand of 30 with Green, who dropped anchor. When Hume removed Garrett, Hickey (14) helped Green add 38 before Squires claimed him LBW, at which point Green began to play more freely as he ran out of support. Hume returned to claim another wicket and Taylor came back on to bowl Aldcroft, before Hume finally bowled Green for an excellent 55 to claim his first 5 wicket haul of the season (5 for 39) and to claim 2 spare overs from the home side, who would have been reasonably satisfied with a total of 155.
For once, Lindow enjoyed a solid start to its reply, as new opening pair Farmer (23) and Smith (25) batted through 15 overs for an opening stand of 46, which provided an excellent platform. Farmer was first out, having shown welcome glimpses of returning form and confidence, but Slinn came to the wicket and played solidly until Smith was unluckily LBW with the score at 63 for 2. Mike Parr came to the wicket and took the bowling on from the off, playing a stylish cameo that saw Lindow apparently comfortably on their way to victory. But when Parr succumbed to a rush of blood a skied a wild hack to be caught for 21, 89 for 2 quickly became 100 for 5 as Squires and Hoyle followed in quick succession. Burgoyne’s arrival at the wicket was a critical moment in the match and, when the ball came off the back of his bat to take him full in the nose it was touch and go whether he would be able to continue. However, he was able to stem the flow of blood and bravely played on to help the careful Slinn take the score to 134 before he was finally bowled for 19. At this point Castrol also finally removed Slinn – who had been at the wicket for 25 overs – LBW for 32 and then skipper Hume was run out for 1 to leave the game in the balance again at 143 for 8, with 4 overs remaining in which to get 13 runs. However, the fast maturing youngster Alex Taylor was equal to the task. Though he was badly dropped first ball, he went on to play his usual range of strokes to finish on 12 not out and see Lindow home with an over to spare.
So a vital 25 point haul was collected under the stewardship of Andy “100%” Hume, who remains unbeaten when acting Captain of the First XI.
