Legion Keep 3rd XI At Bay

West Bridgford Legion’s 1st XI pressed the advantage at home to hand Ellerslie’s 3rd XI their second defeat of the season on Saturday.

Winning the toss under clear skies, captain Jack Webb chose to bowl first on a dry wicket at West Park. Finlay Traynor opened the bowling for Ellerslie, pitching the ball up consistently to Matt Fletcher and Rishi Clark. From the other end, Usman Aziz started with a maiden over as his left-arm pace troubled the batsmen from the beginning. The dot balls took their toll in the sixth over when Clark scrambled for a single and got run out by a sharp throw from Kelvin Rathore at midwicket. Traynor added to the pressure with a maiden of his own, keeping the scoreboard at 15/1 after 7 overs.

Legion’s recovery began with captain David Holden driving Usman for four as he and Fletcher went on to compile 25 runs in the next six overs. Just as the hosts appeared to accelerate, Usman bowled Fletcher on 20. In at 4, Tom Waddington made the highest contribution to the total with a patient half-century. He stood firm even as he lost partners at regular intervals. Usman closed his spell with another maiden, returning 25/1 in his economic 9 overs. As the runs dried up, Holden hit Webb straight to Fred Entwistle, ending his innings on 22. Jack Wisher, the next batsman in, struck three boundaries in an uncharacteristically expensive over from Webb.

The hosts reached their hundred in the final ball of Webb’s spell with 7 wickets to spare and 20 overs left in the innings. Then, Laura Wilson bowled consecutive maidens to concede a solitary run in her next three overs. She found Waddington’s glove, but Alex Noon’s brilliance behind the stumps went unrewarded as the umpire was not convinced. Her discipline did pay off for spinner Shoaib Aziz when he got the swashbuckling Wisher caught on 19 in his very first over. However, Raj Narwal helped Waddington amass 56 runs for the fifth wicket. Hitting 3 sixes, Narwal provided the innings the impetus it had lacked before Kelvin Rathore halted his onslaught on 33. Rathore took two more wickets in successive overs and restricted Legion to 194/7, though Waddington remained unbeaten on 53.

The match was evenly poised when Entwistle commenced the chase beside Ben Skillings. But, Narwal struck soon, bowling Skillings on 9 in the fourth over two deliveries after being hit for four. Entwistle was joined by Umair Aziz and the pair batted sensibly to get through the opening bowlers. They constructed a promising partnership, taking Ellerslie to 47/1 before John Marks bowled Entwistle on 30. Legion bowled and fielded rigorously in the wake of Entwistle’s dismissal, stringing up one maiden over after another.

Andrew Walters was particularly relentless in his remarkable marathon spell of 12 overs that cost merely 11 runs at an economy of 0.91, accounting for 7 maidens and the scalp of skipper Webb. He turned the innings into a rather forgettable affair for Ellerslie as the batsmen struggled to find the gap for overs on end. Umair did well to hold the innings together and although none of the other batsmen, barring Rathore, reached a double-digit score, they offered plenty of resistance. In a rearguard action that took the team to 100 and lasted 42 overs, Ellerslie kept the opposition on the field till 7:00 in the evening. Yet, Legion achieved an excellent result nonetheless winning the match by 97 runs.

The 3rd XI will look to turn the tide when they host Attenborough next Saturday.