Norden put themselves into a great position to pick up a 3rd consecutive Lancashire League win on Sunday. An excellent bowling performance had put visitors, Clitheroe, in huge trouble at 17 for 4 and then 83 for 7, but some poor fielding was followed by some even worse batting to allow the Chatburn Road club to claim the spoils.
As they did last week at Church, Scott Butterworth and Dom Humphreys bowled beautifully with the new ball. Both threatened the stumps and found movement off the pitch to trouble all of Clitheroe’s batters. They got their rewards with 2 wickets each in the first 6 overs of the game. Butterworth had Tom Lord LBW in the first over of the game, and clean-bowled Eli Smith with one that nipped away. Humphreys rattled the stumps of Clitheroe’s main man, Ali Ross, and followed that up by trapping Coby Campbell in front. Clitheroe sub-pro Ruhan Pretorius, and Charlie Dewhurst briefly threatened a partnership of some substance, but Pretorius played a loose shot on 17 and Butterworth had his 3rd. A slip catch from Humphreys then helped him to a 4th as Joe Bolton fell for 11. When Dewhurst was the next man out, edging Greg Butterworth behind into the safe gloves of Lee Crabtree, it looked like Clitheroe might be dismissed for a double-figure score. Skipper Peter Dibb is a much better player than the number 9 position he was occupying, however, and he dropped and ran effectively alongside the obdurate Duncan Bennett. Dibb fell looking to up the rate, the first of 3 wickets for Dean Lord, and Bennett edged a cut shot behind soon afterwards, leaving Clitheroe on 122 for 9. Things should then have been wrapped up on a couple of occasions when Kyle O’Connor offered chances to long-on, but the catches went down allowing an extra 21 runs to be added for the final wicket. Butterworth finished with the excellent figures of 4 for 37 and Lord, the bowler to suffer from the drops, took 3 for 32.
Whilst there was a bit in the pitch, it was no minefield, and a chase of 144 should have been a comfortable one. However, Pretorius has had success at Stag Park with the ball before whilst playing for Lowerhouse, and he picked up the first wicket when Josh Tolley was adjudged LBW for 1. Tolley rarely shows any emotion when dismissed, but he looked frustrated by the decision. Mitch Owen took a quick liking to the medium pace of Bolton, but after already taking 10 off his 3rd over, he decided that wasn’t enough and tried to clear Charlie Dewhurst at long-off. Unfortunately, this one failed to come out the middle of the bat and the Norden paid man was certainly told about his error by the Clitheroe fielders as he made his way back to the dressing room. Bolton and Pretorius then continued to make their way through the Norden top order. Crabtree, Jack Taylor and Spencer Allen all fell cheaply before Greg Butterworth was sharply taken at short-cover by Tom Lord to leave Norden 58 for 6. Alex Willis and Humphreys were not ready to throw the towel in, though, and they rode out the opening spells without any further loss. Perhaps surprisingly, it was Willis who scored the bulk of the runs in a partnership that passed 50. Dibb felt he had no choice but to return to Pretorius and that proved to be an excellent piece of captaincy. Willis was caught on the crease for a well-made 30 and Humphreys was smartly taken by wicket-keeper O’Connor for 18, giving Pretorius his 5th wicket. In-between, Scott Butterworth was superbly caught by Dewhurst running round to long-on, the 3rd excellent catch of the innings, in contrast to Norden’s late misses. Pretorius’ 6th finished the match, as he stuck out a right hand to somehow cling on to a well-struck straight drive from Oli Holt in his follow-through. Norden’s 123 all-out meant 6 bonus points, but they all only have themselves to blame that it wasn’t twice as many.
1st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107884
1st XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y41fMeI4iIY
The 2nds won a topsy-turvy battle at Chatburn Road. A partnership of 71 between Haris Hussain and Hashum Malik looked like it had laid a platform for a strong-looking middle order to push on to a total in excess of 200, but a flurry of wickets left Norden struggling to bat the overs. Hussain made 58 and Malik 35, but some poor shots and some questionable running did not help the cause. 11 balls went unused as Norden were dismissed for a disappointing 171. The game looked like it would be over in double-quick time as Clitheroe flew out of the blocks. Stuart Lemon and Oliver Butterfield led the charge as the hosts reached 71 for 1 in just 8 overs. Malik turned to the experience of Mo Waheed and the Stags’ new-boy Modessar Hussain and what happened next was remarkable. Hussain started things off by bowling Charlie Collinge and this started the mother of all collapses. 8 wickets fell for just 17 runs, with Hussain taking 5 for 12 on second-team debut. Waheed’s support was 3 for 5, and with home captain Mark Bolton unable to bat due to injury, Norden had turned things around to take the 12 points in their bid to stay in the top division.
2nd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110345
The 3rds had two games at the weekend, bringing mixed results. Friday night’s t20 at Littleborough was rain-affected and Norden held their nerve to secure a 3-run victory. There was a first senior 50 for Abu Farooq, and Adam Bunting was the man (or boy in this case) trusted to defend 12 with the final over, which he did with great skill.
Saturday was a much tougher affair, with an experienced Middleton side racking up a massive score of 259 for 4 from their 40 overs after being asked to bat first. Matt Lee made 122 as Norden’s bowlers and fielders struggled to contain their opponents. The chase was never realistic, but David Bebb found some form with 45. Middleton were comfortable winners by 122 runs.
3rd XI Friday Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110028
3rd XI Saturday Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110014