Denton CC 2nd XI v Moorside CC 2nd XI

Denton won the toss and chose to field. So the long (Pete B) and the short (Percy) went in to bat. Denton are noted for their batting prowess not their bowling and, not surprisingly, the early overs took some punishment from an opening partnership of 98 with Pete out for 61 from 79 from 24.4 overs. It should have been more had the fielders been avoided a bit more. But it was something to build on. Unfortunately that didn't happen and Moorside finished dead on 200/7 after 45 overs. Percy was out two balls from the end attempting another six. Apart from Rafiq (26) the middle order failed to trouble the score board much. A good start with a wicket in the first over for Saqib and a steady fall saw Denton at 78/5. Victory looked probable, but w/k McIllwaine had other thoughts. He had seemed to injure himself while fielding and one swing to cow saw him grounded at the crease. He did that more than once and looked like a stretcher candidate, but either the adrenaline kicked in or his knee clicked back into place and he went on to hit to all parts. Unlike the Moorside batsmen he tended not to find the fielders and hit the good ball as well as the bad. His 81 was hit at a strike rate of nearly 148 and he, alone, made the difference in what would otherwise have been a win for the twos. This didn't look like a Division 4 standard game of cricket as both sides performed well batting, bowling and fielding (perhaps not so much the fielding at time?).