Norden lost a dramatic game at Todmorden on Sunday, despite a century from Josh Tolley threatening to snatch victory for the visitors. Tod elected to bat first, but an excellent opening spell from Scott Butterworth had them struggling at 60 for 4. Professional WIll Bosisto and Noah Priestley then came together for a century partnership, as Norden’s spinners for once struggled to provide the middle-overs squeeze. It took the returning Lukas Debnam to eventually break the stand and he collected a further two wickets as Norden clawed themselves back into the game. Priestley made 54 and Bosisto went on to 73 before he was bowled by Ashar Zaidi and Todmorden probably felt they were a little short of where they could have got to when they were bowled out in the final over for 213. Butterworth was the standout for Norden with 4 for 43.
Norden were soon in big trouble at 11 for 3, with Alex Willis, Haris Hussain and Zaidi combining for just one run. Tolley and Greg Butterworth had some re-building to do, and they were forced to play patiently in their stand of 74. Butterworth fell to Bosisto when on 39 and Oli Holt and Lee Crabtree both provided some assistance, but when they fell it was Tolley who needed to change gears and get Norden close. Norden players and supporters have seen him do just that on many occasions and again he was up to the task, bringing up his century and leaving himself on strike for the final over with 8 needed to win and 2 wickets in hand. Tolley struck the first ball and called for 2, but was sent back by Dean Lord and, unable to turn and recover his ground, was beaten by the throw from Bosisto and run-out at the non-striker’s end. Lord was unable to hit the next ball for the boundary he needed and was stumped to give Todmorden the win and 12 points to Norden’s 7 in defeat. Tolley deserved better, but Norden must find more runs from other sources if they are to be competitive.
1st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/5592461
The seconds registered their first league win of the season with a demolition of Bacup at Stag Park. Just 36 overs were required in the match as Mo Munawar and Mo Waheed combined for 8 wickets to bowl Bacup out for just 64. Once Usama Malik had the dangerous looking Luke Bradford caught in the gully by David Bebb, it was easy going for Norden. The last 8 wickets fell for just 8 runs, with the highlight being a fine caught and bowled from Waheed who juggled a sharp return chance and managed to cling on to the rebound one-handed. It only took Hashum Malik and Oli Kirkby 8 overs to knock the runs off, with Malik’s power and Kirkby’s timing being much too good for the Bacup attack.
2nd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/5593258
2nd XI Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XtzxxCT6XM&feature=youtu.be
The thirds also managed their first victory of the year on Saturday against Rishton thirds. After tight opening spells from Kirkby and Will Hindley, there were 3 wickets each for Mo Iqbal, Stan Kearns and Charlie Gooding as Rishton limped to 93 all out in 35 overs. Iqbal was particularly impressive, bowling a full length and swinging the ball late. His figures of 3 for 14 from 8 overs did not flatter him at all. An opening partnership of 62 between Spencer Allen and Kirkby meant there were no wobbles in the run chase. Kirkby went on to make an impressive 46* as The Stags secured a 7 wicket win for a maximum 12 points.
3rd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/5616265