1st XI Progress in T20 Shield

Rastrick progressed to the quarter-finals of the T20 Shield with a hard fought victory against Slaithwaite.

Slaithwaite batted first and lost an early wicket to overseas professional Asif Afridi, who bowled Lewis Bradley for a duck in the first over. The Rastrick bowlers bowled tidily throughout and, with a much improved fielding performance, the Slaithwaite run rate never got out of control. Afridi was once again the pick of the bowlers with 3-20 off his 4 overs and the Pearson brothers also bowled accurately, with Olly taking 1-16 and Jack taking 1-22 off their 4 over spells. Chris Coleman top scored for Slaithwaite with an unbeaten 32 but they couldn't accelerate in the later overs and finished on a below par 117-8.

Rastrick will have been pleased with the target but the mood soon changed after a fine opening spell from youngster Jay Cyrus, who picked up the wickets of the top 3 Rastrick batsmen who all fell cheaply. Ovais Hussain was bowled for 1, Afridi followed shortly afterwards without troubling the scorers and captain Jacob Waterson was adjudged LBW for just 11. At this point Rastrick were in real trouble and it took a sensible partnership between wicketkeeper Bradley Birkhead and Faisal Javed to steady the ship. This pair took few risks and accumulated the runs at a decent enough rate to keep on top of the chase before accelerating towards the end of the innings. With the match nearly won, Javed fell to Bradley for 32 as part of an excellent spell of 1-10 off 4 overs but by this time the game was in the bag for Rastrick as Birkhead finished the job off with an outstanding 55 not out. Rastrick coasted home with over 2 overs to spare without having to unleash their hard-hitting T20 specialist Matthew Lambert.

Their next match takes place on Tuesday 4 July when Rastrick are at home to Clayton West in the Quarter Final.