Cricket: Heywood march into cup semis despite five run penalty incident

Heywood marched into the semi-finals of the Derek Kay First XI Cup, the Greater Manchester League’s flagship knockout competition, after being set two different victory targets.

Division 1B side Glodwick gave a good account of themselves to post a score of 184 on another sun-soaked day at Crimble.

The victory target of 185 was raised to 190 in mid-innings after an incident involving Andy Kerr, who was going well on 40 in a total of 91-1 with 23 overs and two balls gone.

Kerr was showing signs of feeling unwell and, when he indicated that he might have to leave the field to recover, there were rumours of an alleged comment.

The opener left his crease for a confrontation which resulted, after a lengthy delay and a meeting between the umpires and captains, in the visitors being awarded five penalty runs.

That means Kerr automatically being reported to the league’s disciplinary committee.

The player did leave the field in clear discomfort before coming back in at 149-4 almost 18 overs later to complete a brave half-century.

That proved so valuable to Heywood in the end as they reached 190-5 with just five balls to spare.

It was a pity that the hiatus became the focal point of a match which sees Heywood go forward to the semi-finals with the draw yet to be made.

Glodwick’s innings featured several notable contributions as Heywood’s bowlers toiled in the sweltering conditions.

An opening stand of 52 between Thokeer Tariq and Farukh Shaghir realised 52 from almost 17 overs before 16-year-old Cav Hilton claimed both wickets in the middle of a fine spell of seven overs for just 30 runs.

Professional Mohammad Mohsin gave the innings an injection of urgency with 33 off 35 balls until Riley Paterson had him caught behind, and from then on wickets fell at regular intervals.

So much so that at 120-6 the visitors looked to be struggling to top 150.

Mark Whitehead had other ideas and was the prime mover in a stand worth 31 with Arkam Zeer and 20 with James Symonds before being last man out for 31.

The original target of 185 did not look too insurmountable on a good track and, despite Riley Paterson slicing a catch to point after making 16, Kerr and Cross looked in control until the flashpoint moment of the game.

Once Kerr was forced to leave the field, Glodwick chipped away with wickets just when the match appeared to be ebbing away from them.

Cross was lbw to Whitehead, Pawson tried to heave a big hit but was bowled by Zeer and Sean Burrill was caught behind off Tariq.

At 149-4 with eight overs and five balls left, Heywood needed a steady hand alongside captain Travis Townsend – and got it in the shape of the returning Kerr.

He completed a deserved half-century, and, when he was another lbw victim for Whitehead, the stand of 25 with Townsend had broken the back of the run chase.

Townsend kept his composure with 16 runs need from 19 balls when joined by Andy Dawson, with the latter’s energy between the wickets resulting in vital runs being pinched.

They were still there when Townsend hit the winning runs to end with an unbeaten 36 from 53 balls as he extended his fine run of recent form with the bat.

Glodwick

• T T Tariq c Cross b Hilton 19
• F S Shagir c Burrill b Hilton 28
• M Mohsin c Cross b Paterson 33
• Z T Tahir hit wkt b Paterson 20
• F L Lenhart c Dawson b Pawson 6
• J C Chadwick c Pawson b McQuinn 6
• A Z Zeer run out 19
• M Whitehead lbw b McQuinn 31
• J Symonds st Cross b Townsend 6
• Z Mirza c Grogan b Pawson 2
• N S Stock not out 1
• Extras 13
• Total (48.2 overs) 184
• Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-53, 3-88, 4-113, 5-117, 6-120, 7-151, 8-171, 9-183, 10-184
• Bowling: T McQuinn 8.2-0-33-2, D Pawson 9-3-26-2, C Hilton 7-1-30-2, T Townsend 10-5-26-1, A Dawson 5-1-16-0, R Paterson 9-0-49-2

Heywood

• R Paterson c Tahir b Mirza 16
• A Kerr lbw b Whitehead 54
• R Cross lbw b Whitehead 41
• D Pawson b Zeer 14
• T Townsend not out 36
• S Burrill c Symonds b Tariq 9
• A Dawson not out 3
• Extras 17
• Total (for 5 wkts, 49.1 overs) 190
• Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-117, 3-123, 4-149, 5-174
• Bowling: F L Lenhardt 3-0-17-0, Z Mirza 10-0-40-1, M Mohsin 10-0-24-0, A Z Zeer 10-1-35-1, M Whitehead 10-0-40-2, Z T Tahir 2-0-10-0, T T Tariq 4-0-21-1