Waterson Stars In Epic Slaithwaite Battle

Rastrick 1st XI managed to snatch a thrilling victory against the odds at Round Hill in an epic battle with Slaithwaite.

Rastrick bowled first on a sunny day in front of another excellent crowd at Round Hill and soon made a couple of early breakthroughs with Wasim Javed and James Anderson taking a wicket each. However Slaithwaite quickly recovered and put together a fast scoring partnership with Hasnat Yousaf (86) and Chris Coleman (43) taking control. At 140-2 Slaithwaite were on course for a huge total but when Yousaf fell courtesy of a Tom Barrett catch off Javed, Rastrick began to claw themselves back into the match. Overseas professional Asif Afridi bowled a tight spell of 1-37 off 15 overs to keep the run rate in check but Slaithwaite were still on top at 195-5. A late order collapse followed, with Jack Pearson chipping in with 3 beautifully burgled wickets after an expensive early spell before Wasim Javed (4-33) wrapped things up for 205 all out with more than 4 overs still remaining. From such a promising position, the visitors will have been disappointed with their final total but nonetheless it still represented a very competitive target.

In reply, Rastrick got off to a bright start but were soon on the back foot when Majid Khan miscued one to mid off for just 12 runs. Ovais Hussain fell shortly afterwards for 18, quickly followed by Leon Risdon who added just 4. Asif Afridi will be disappointed with a poor shot leading to his departure for just 6 runs, leaving Rastrick is disarray at 45-4. Younas Mohammed then played a supporting role to captain Jacob Waterson as they put together a steady partnership of 57 to rebuild the innings. However Slaithwaite were soon back in control when Mohammed and Matthew Lambert fell in quick succession and more quick wickets fell with Rastrick were nearly out for the count at 130-8. All hopes were now resting on Waterson and crowd favourite James Anderson proved to be a great partner for his Captain, managing to execute a few lusty blows on his way to a crucial 29, before getting hungry and running himself out with 23 still needed. Injured last man Tom Barrett hung on bravely whilst fighting the pain of a lightly scratched toenail and Waterson took control at the other end, launching two huge sixes to the delight of the lively crowd. 4 byes levelled the scores before another 4 byes clinched an unlikely victory, with Waterson playing a quite brilliant innings of 92 not out, leading from the front to see his side home. Slaithwaite will no doubt feel aggrieved after Waterson survived a confident appeal for caught behind, when the Umpire's raised finger would surely have seen them take the spoils.

Consecutive victories see Rastrick riding high after the early exchanges in the Huddersfield League Championship and will be looking to consolidate their position with a trip to newly promoted Lepton Highlanders next Saturday.