Heywood win Tom Hardman T20 final

Heywood won the last Tom Hardman T20 final to be played under the auspices of the Central Lancashire League when they defeated Rochdale in the final on Norden’s Stag Park ground on Sunday.

It was possibly Heywood’s last chance of lifting the trophy, as they will be playing in the Greater Manchester League next season, while the trophy will still hopefully be played for in the Pennine League.

As for Rochdale, they looked to have done the hard part of the day when they beat trophy holders Norden in a semi-final. But chasing a winning target of 125 they fell well short at 106 for nine.

Most of the damage was done by Rob Nichol who destroyed the middle order with a three for 10 spell, while Danny Pawson finished with three for 30, most of the runs coming off him as Rochdale made a late bid to bridge the gap.

Heywood took first knock in the final and looked in some trouble at 22-3.

Liam Mason was caught by Wes Lansdale with only one on the board, Rob Nicol was caught behind by James O’Neill 11 runs later, and Pawson managed only four before being bowled by Tom Avery as the attacker took his tally to three for 10 off four overs.

But Bobby Cross was still in there and surely, if not spectacularly, he pushed the total along, first with the help of Dale Latham (11) and then with the impressive Wes Hunt who hit 35 off 25 balls including three fours and two sixes.

Hunt was eventually stumped by O’Neill to provide Dale Highton with his only wicket, while Cross was only one away from a half century when he hit straight to be caught by Wes Lansdale close to the boundary.

The bowler was Will Avery, the younger of three Avery’s in the Rochdale team, and he finished with figures of four for 28.

The reply suffered a huge blow when Dom Ayres hammered a Simon Dawson delivery straight to Sean Burrill at mid-off, but there was little indication of the collapse to follow as Lansdale and Marradon Bend looked comfortable and took the score up to 45.

Joe Lovell, and another catch by Burrill accounted for Lansdale (20), while Bend (19) was bowled by Nicol.

The remainder of the innings became something of a procession.

There was a bit of hope given to Rochdale followers by Michal Harling (17) and O’Neill (13 not out).

Dale Highton hit a return catch to Pawson, and the overs ran out with Rochdale 19 runs short of victory.

There were several candidates for man of the match, but those who decided the issue plumped for Bobby Cross and his 49 runs.

Heywood
R Cross c Lansdale b W Avery 49
L Mason c Lansdale b T Avery 0
R NIcol c O’Neill b T Avery 2
D Pawson b T Avery 4
D Latham st O’Neill b W Avery 11
W Hunt st O’Neill b Highton 35
S Burrill c O’Neill b W Avery 7
A Dawson b W Avery 0
J Lovell not out 7
S Dawson not out 5
Extras 4
Total (for 8 wkts) 124
Bowling: T Avery 4-1-10-3; M Harling 4-0-38-0; D Highton 4-0-23-1; Lansdale 4-0-24-0; W Avery 4-0-28-4.

Rochdale
D Ayres c Burrill b S Dawson 0
W Lansdale c Burrill b Lovell 20
M Bend b Nicol 19
T Avery c Pawson b Lovell 10
K Ahmed b Nicol 5
J Avery lbw Nicol 2
M Harling b Pawson 17
D Faulkner c Hunt b Pawson 3
J O’Neill not out 13
D Highton c and b Pawson 8
W Avery not out 2
Extras 7
Total (for 9 wkts) 106
Bowling: S Dawson 4-0-28-1; A Dawson 4-0-24-0; D Pawson 4-0-30-3; Nicol 4-0-10-3; Lovell 4-1-14-2