1st XI Tie With Linthwaite

Rastrick 1st XI tied their match at home Linthwaite as they lost their final wicket to the final delivery of the match.

Having lost the toss, Rastrick found themselves in the field boosted by the arrival of their overseas professional, Asif Afridi. It was Jack Pearson, stepping up to open the bowling in the absence of the injured Jordan Ghani, who made the early breakthroughs courtesy of two slip catches from Faisal Javed. Afridi was soon introduced and bowled with immaculate control in his early spell, conceding just 6 runs off his first 6 overs and capturing the wicket of the opener Hussain for 35. Linthwaite appeared to be in trouble after 20 overs at 67-4 and it took an excellent partnership between Qaiser Rashid (87) and Sajid Nazir (35) to get things back on track. Olly Pearson was in the wickets again with 4-55 and Afridi finished his promising 15 over spell with 1-44 as Linthwaite eventually posted a very competitive total of 240-8 off their 50 overs, including 33 costly extras.

In reply, Rastrick made a steady start but both openers departed disappointingly after seeing off the early overs. Ovais Hussain was first to depart for 14 and Waterson followed shortly afterwards for 16. In form Faisal Javed also departed for 14 but Rastrick gained momentum through Bradley Birkhead and Asif Afridi. Just when the game was starting to turn their way, Birkhead appeared to be harshly adjudged LBW for 39 and Afridi also looked poised for a big score before he edged one behind for 26. At this point, Linthwaite were firm favourites but Rastrick showed real fight to keep themselves in the game with contributions from Joe Vickers (14) and Anil Singh (23). Matthew Lambert injected some real urgency to proceedings with some well judged singles and his customary big hitting before falling for 25. When Olly Pearson then departed for a quick 16, Rastrick were left needing 35 in less than 4 overs with the last pair at the crease. The equation soon became 22 off the final 2 overs and then 11 needed off a tense final over. With 9 required off only 3 deliveries, Jack Pearson's ugly swing landed in the car park and just 3 were required off 2 deliveries. A wide put Rastrick firmly in the driving seat and after a single, they levelled the scores and needed just one more run off the final delivery. Wasim Javed had batted superbly well up to that point but managed to dramatically edge one to the keeper to leave the result as a tie.

Rastrick will be disappointed not to get over the line having battled so hard in their innings, but in truth the tie was a fair result and the strengthened Rastrick team will take the trip to Lascelles Hall on Saturday with renewed confidence in their ability to make a push for the top spots.