27 June 2009, Lindow CC 1st XI vs. Pott Shrigley (a)
Ton up for Grover
Pott Shrigley 162 all out, Lindow 163 for 7
Lindow (25pts) beat Pott Shrigley (12) by 3 wickets
League leaders Lindow saw off the challenge of second placed Pott Shrigley for a sixth consecutive win and to gain significant daylight at the top of the table.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that had something for everyone. There was some bounce and carry for the batsmen and some swing and seam movement for the bowlers, and few batsmen managed to establish themselves, which made for an interesting game. Opener and skipper Hart fought hard for the home side as Bradshaw (2 for 35), Grover (5 for 44) and Hume (1 for 25) whittled the batting away to 78 for 5, including a stupendous one-handed, full length diving slip catch by Law off Grover’s bowling to take the second wicket. But Pott’s South African Klopper (30) helped Hart add 40 with some powerful driving and suddenly the home side were picking up a boundary per over without much effort until Grover turned to off-spinner Ed Farmer, who removed both players for figures of 2 for 20. Hart’s 60 took him 35 overs and set up Pott’s tail for some lusty hitting as the innings careered towards its end. The home side were eventually bowled out for a useful 162, but used up only 40 of their available 45 overs. Henry Grover’s 5 wickets haul took him past 100 wickets for Lindow’s first team.
Lindow’s chances of chasing down the runs looked bleak when Kloppen’s first ball of the innings jagged back to knock out Jav Huq’s off stump and the sixth had Foreman (4) top-edging a pull back to him to leave them 4 for 2. Paul Slinn joined Adam Clarke in a careful rebuilding job, with the specific aim of blunting the pacy and accurate Kloppen’s new ball assault. While Slinn was carefully watchful, Clarke was quickly into his buccaneering stride and the two added 49 in 14 overs before Kloppen finally trapped Slinn LBW for 9 with the score 53 for 3. But with the match delicately poised, the home side dropped the dangerous Law at mid-on and he punished them for the error, hammering a rapid 46, which included 21 from an over by unfortunate Lindow old boy Julian Scarsbrook. By the time Law finally holed out he had added 77 with Clarke and Lindow needed only 33 more to win with 19 overs available to them. But as defeat loomed the home side stepped up their efforts and made things difficult for the visitors. Klopper bowled Taylor for 11 and then trapped Clarke LBW for an excellent 62 (9x4, 1x6) before Scarsbrook also picked up Ed Farmer (3) with the score 155 for 7. But Mike Parr (7*) overcame the pain of his injured arm to steer Lindow home with Andy Hume (1*). Kloppen put in a great effort for the hosts with 6 for 48, but it wasn’t enough as Lindow’s fantastic recent run continued.
