Mersey 1sts well beaten at Barrow
Difficult day for Mersey as Barrow ease to 8 wicket win.
Hoping to follow on from last weeks well earned draw, Mersey made the trip west to division newcomers Barrow CC on Saturday. With many positives to take from last weekends, Mersey were hopeful of a strong result.
The weather early on however was anything but positive and marked a stark contrast to the glorious sunshine of a week ago and with rain falling down at 1:30, the omens did not look good. Eventually, after a 1/2 hour delay, the skies cleared and the match got under way. Mersey won the toss and elected to bat first, hoping
to post a decent total should the rain begin the fall again.
Unfortunately, things did not go Mersey's way. Jordan Barnett and Dom Gandy opened the innings but struggled to get a foothold in the game as Barrow's overseas player, Matthew Parks from South Africa produced some fine bowling and in the 5th over claimed back to back wickets of Barnett and Cheema and with Gandy out caught in the next over,
Mersey found themselves 2 for 3 after 6 overs. A nightmare start!
The introduction of Hassan Rashid showed some promise early as Mersey tried to find some momentum. He batted steadily and found the boundary on 5 occasions.
Barrows bowling continued to restrict Mersey's chances of posting a high total and when Rashid was found to be LBW, Mersey had made little inroads, finding themselves firmly on the back foot at 28-4 at the end of the fifteenth over. The wicket of Ainscough quickly followed and after just under an hours play Mersey were 5 wickets down.
As the innings progressed, Mersey steadied the ship with Abbas Shah batting confidently, going on to make 27 not out, the top score for Mersey of the day. The home team continued to hold the advantage and after Saj Ali, Ford, Singh and Saquib Ali lost their wickets Mersey had only managed 70 runs from 35 overs.
As captain Hughes walked to the crease, Mersey were keen to ensure that if a high score was not possible, then they would at least bat through their overs.
A spirited partnership from Abbas and Ian, saw Mersey put on 30 runs in 36 balls helped by some quick running between the wickets with Hughes earning a strike rate of 83.3 as Mersey managed to reach 100 runs ensuring 2 batting points which may prove important as the season develops.
After a 15 minute break for tea, Barrow began their innings with Mersey eager to restrict Barrow's chances as much as possible.
Openers McClements and Parks soon dashed hopes of a close match with the batting of Parks a particular highlight for Barrow. He would go to score 64 off 56 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes as the game quickly got away from Mersey.
McClements was caught behind in the 7th over after a change of end for bowler Saqib Ali but by this time Barrow had made 30 runs, something which Mersey did not manage until the 16th over in the first innings. Barrow
number 3, wicketkeeper Andy Reid made 26 off 17 before falling victim to the spin of Hughes with the score at 63 and from then on, Mersey knew the game was up as Barrow secured a comfortable 8 wicket win after just
20 overs of play.
All in all, a frustrating trying day for Mersey who struggled to move the run rate on against a promising Barrow side.
Mersey man of the match - Abbas Shah for preventing a possible batting collapse and teaming well with Ian at the end to make the score more respectable.
DOTD - No real favourite here but Saj will have been disappointed to drop a catch with the first ball of the Barrow innings.
Mersey are back at home again this Saturday against Runcorn. Start time 1:30pm