Cricket: Middleton get off to fine start in Tom Hardman Trophy

Middleton Cricket Club

Middleton's first match in the T20 saw them at beat Shaw in front of a reasonable crowd at Towncroft on the Bank Holiday Monday.

Shaw arrived with an experienced team, including the Mahmood's, Chiapp and Jones.

Several of the bowlers that day couldn't find a length and at the end of the game there was a general consensus that the pitch was two yards short at only 20 yards.

Batting first, Harry Gee was back in the starting eleven and he walked out to open with Grant Jones who had been promoted to boost the run rate. Both were quickly back in the pavilion after a run out for Gee and Jones on the receiving end of a ball that moved all over before hitting the wickets.

A partnership between Captain George Walker and professional Chris Williams helped the scoreboard turn over for Middleton - both were seeing the ball well and finding the Rochdale Road boundary with regularity.

Williams found the boundary on eight occasions before being bowled by Callum Jones for a well-crafted 59 off only 44 balls. A key innings, holding it together for Middleton.

Walker hit a valuable 29, including an enormous six, before being a victim of Shaw fast bowler Saj Mahmood.

Zain Tahir and Pete Foden both got into double figures taking Middleton to a respectable 136 for six off their 20 overs.

Jones and Whitehead opened the batting for Shaw and both made a good start reaching double figures before falling victims to Chris Williams and Steve McGuiness. The latter had replaced a strangely out of sorts Mike Pritchard.

McGuiness was joined in the attack by Tom Rutter and both only conceded a combined 39 off their allotted overs.

Tom Brimelow stayed in the middle for Shaw for the remainder of the innings for a hard fought 24 not out.

Extras put Shaw in a commanding position and with Rak Mahmood scoring a quick fire 28 they looked well positioned to win.

However, a spell of one for 19 from Matt Foden, and the introduction of Rhys Tierney, whose fine spell of three for 24 off four overs from Tierney swung the game Middleton's way.

Shaw still looked destined to win with only eight needed off the last three overs.

The final over was well bowled by McGuiness, taking a wicket and leaving Shaw one run short. Somehow Shaw had managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Phil Hamnett, Middleton Cricket, said: “A top performance with both bat and ball for the Pro Williams, however I felt Rhys Tierney deservedly took the man-of-the-match for his fine bowling spell.”