Cricket: Kerr century helps maintain Heywood's unbeaten start

Heywood Cricket Club

Outstanding performances by Andy Kerr and Simon Dawson inspired Heywood to what conspired to be a tense 37-run victory over Unsworth.

Kerr showed why Heywood were so keen to recruit him from Greenmount as he made a superb 101, his maiden century for the club, in a Crimble run fest of 241-6 from their 50 overs.

The visitors gave the Division One table-toppers a real fright despite being faced with a formidable total, and for almost half of their innings looked capable of hunting down the victory target.

Openers Leighton Friend and Steve Judge rattled along at almost seven-per-over, so it was a relief to the home fans when – with the stand 83-0 – Travis Townsend had Judge caught at backward point for 25.

That did not stem the tide, however, and Friend was joined by by professional Mangaliso Mosehle in a South African double act that tested the Heywood attack to the limit. Then up stepped Simon Dawson.

The paceman had been ineffectual in his opening three-over spell from the Pavilion End but really hit his straps when recalled to the attack at the Lake End for the 20th over of the innings.

At that stage, with Unsworth rattling along for 120-1, the overseas duo looked capable of taking the game away from the home side.

Captain Danny Pawson made a vital breakthrough by trapping Mosehle lbw for 25 before Dawson took over.

An aggressive short ball was quickly on to Friend and he only succeeded in lofting a return catch to the bowler for a fine 49 that earned generous applause from the locals.

It saw Dawson clicked into top gear as he virtually ran through the rest of the Unsworth innings, with the exception of a scalp for Humza Naeem, in an eventual crushing return of 6-70 as he bowled his last 11.1 overs off the reel.

Such was Dawson’s impact that he played a vital role in eight of the dismissals as the spirited visitors finally fell for 204, also taking the opening catch of the innings and deflecting a drive from Ian Hall that saw Jack O’Brien run out.

A massive plus was Heywood’s catching, particularly efforts by Pawson at slip, a stunning low grab by Shaun Burrill running in from the fine leg boundary and a final acrobatic effort from stand-in wicketkeeper Dale Latham.

On the minus side were the 26 wides conceded as extras totalled 37!

Earlier, Kerr had inspired Heywood to their big total with significant help from 15-year-old Mikey Witts and the irrepressible Pawson.

Witts scored his first senior League runs for the side, showing admirable application and spirit, and his contribution of 17 in an opening stand of 64 with Kerr provided a vital platform for the batting unit.

Kerr, meanwhile, accumulated his runs at a consistently decent rate and rightly received a standing ovation for his century.

And Pawson continued his golden run of form with a blistering 54 before unselfishly holing out on the long-on boundary trying to up the scoring rate even further.

Heywood made it three successive victories in Division One of the Greater Manchester League, and now face a vital clash with fellow pacesetters Woodhouses at Crimble on Saturday.

Heywood

A Kerr b Hall 101
M Witts c Ryder b Saoib 17
T Townsend c Hall b Matloob 17
D Pawson c McGuinness b Hall 54
A Dawson st Mosehle b O’Brien 15
W Hunt c and b O’Brien 10
H Naeem not out 5
S Dawson not out 0
Extras 22
Total (for 6 wkts, 50 overs) 241
Fall of wickets: 1-64, 2-126, 3-192, 4-217, 5-223, 6-239
Bowling: I Hall 12-2-51-2, L Friend 4-0-20-0, J O’Brien 15-3-56-2, M Saoib 4-0-20-1, A Matloob 9-0-44-1, A McGuinness 6-0-34-0

Unsworth

L Friend c and b S Dawson 49
S Judge c S Dawson b Townsend 25
M Mosehle lbw b Pawson 24
A Arora b S Dawson 9
J O’Brien run out 17
M Saoib c A Dawson b S Dawson 1
J Ryder c Townsend b Naeem 7
I Hall c Burrill b S Dawson 17
A Jones c Pawson b S Dawson 5
A Matloob c Latham b S Dawson 6
A McGuinness not out 7
Extras 37
Total (41.1 overs) 204
Fall of wickets: 1-83, 2-121, 3-130, 4-138, 5-140, 6-158, 7-161, 8-166, 9-192, 10-204
Bowling: S Dawson 14.1-0-70-6, A Dawson 5-0-30-0, D Pawson 10-0-39-1, T Townsend 4-0-16-1, H Naeem 8-1-39-1