GMCL Under 12s interleague success

GMCL Under 12s Interleague Team: Gareth Williams, coach, Harry Singh, Evan Williams (captain), Alex Old, Jonny Litler, Dan Stevens, Callum Hunter, Joe Hornsby, John Stevens, coach and manager Front Row: Kartik Joshi, Matthew Senior, Zach Flaxman, Edward Taylor, Oliver Filkins

Greater Manchester Cricket League (GMCL) under 12s won their inaugural match against Liverpool in a tense encounter at Hightown.

With the match reduced to 35 overs apiece due to the premonitions of doom and tempest on various parents' weather apps, GMCL lost the toss and were put in on a tricky pitch in favourable and hostile bowling conditions.

Openers Harry Singh and Dan Stevens worked hard in defence against quality seam bowling but wickets began to fall steadily with runs in scarce supply.

At 43-5 the Liverpool team sensed the initiative was now seized but Callum Hunter and Kartik Joshi steadied the ship with a sensible well-paced stand of 46 before Kartik was out for a patient 12.

Hunter struck some delightful blows for a well-deserved 52 including seven fours and an excellent carve over point for six to reach his half century.

GMCL were all out 118, although there was a sense that in other circumstances the total may be 'worth' 150.

Liverpool had a similarly sticky start against tight accurate bowling from Matthew Senior and Callum Hunter, but despite losing two early wickets they reached 67-2 with relative ease with too much short bowling by GMCL being a recurrent theme.

However, to cap a fine all round performance, Callum Hunter took a superb low catch to remove county opener Hurst off the bowling of Kartik Joshi and suddenly the emphasis changed significantly.

Straight bowling induced pressure as Kartik bagged two more quick wickets and spin master Harry Singh found the right spot to induce some bite from the pitch and followed suit with two of his own.

The fielding gathered momentum with great intensity and Liverpool were stunned by direct run outs from Alex Old and, once again, man-of-the-match Callum Hunter.

From a seemingly strong position of 67-2 at drinks, Liverpool were all out for 88 with seven overs remaining leaving the Greater Manchester Boys victorious by 30 runs.

John Stevens, coach and manager said: “An excellent and hard fought match where the boys have shown good character and spirit as a team to overcome a disappointing batting performance.

“Great credit to Callum and Kartik for setting up a total to defend and then to the whole group for executing our plans in the field. The lads have worked hard in training over the past month and I'm sure they will continue to improve as the season progresses."