Town win a top of the table clash

Westbury 1st v WTCC 1st

Another glorious day with Towns players travelling the reasonably short distance to Westbury for this eagerly anticipated top of the table clash.

Skipper Atif Akhlaq won the toss and elected to bat. Did the summer heat sway his decision or was he supremely confident that on the back of two wins Town could could post a high total and skittle the opposition especially with man of the moment Idrees Butt on fire!!
Akhlaq had a point to prove given his run of poor form and was determined to prove to his critics (Match reporter Mumnoon Ahmad) that form is temporary and class is permanent and got off to the best possible of starts.

With opener Chris King the pair made rapid progress with Akhlaq the primary aggressor. Averaging a run a ball with regular boundaries the Skipper finally had something to shout about when he reached his first league fifty of the season - Relief or jubilation!!
King continued to play the supporting role to his skipper who meant business and the pair reached 90 when king was given LBW to Judd for 22. Unlike his colleague Jamil Raja there was no histrionics and King accepted the decision gracefully.

Kabir Arif replaced King and settled himself in as Akhlaq continued to score with ease having the measure of Westbury's bowlers.
Despite a couple of boundaries Arif was still finding his feet when he too was given LBW to Williams, the first of his four wickets. Arif departed having contributed 17 with the total now on 141, the pair having put on 51 for the third wicket.

Pocket rocket Jamil Raja entered the field of play and was in no mood to miss out having watched his Skipper scoring at will. He made his intentions clear with a couple of quick boundaries but then risked a single described by his Skipper as a bad run and slipped sealing his fate and was runout!! Raja trudged off sensing a missed opportunity having only scored 12.
Raja's exit seem to signal Towns incoming players to go into overdrive with each successive batsmen playing akin to the IPL with over a 100% strike rate.

First to entertain was Ahsan Malik with two 4's and a 6 in a spell that also saw Akhlaq reach his century. One can only imagine what went through his mind after his early season frustrations!!
Malik departed having scored 18 off 16 when he was caught off the bowling of Williams to be replaced by the Akinator Aky Hussain who not to be outdone smashed three 4's in a quickfire 18 off 12 balls pushing the total past 200 before he was caught off Williams.
Ahmed Mujtba entered the fray and followed suit with 2 quick boundaries before being stumped off William having struck 11 off 8.
With Town showing no sign of easing up, Westbury must have wondered what had hit them when Idrees Butt entered the fold. Together with Akhlaq who was now on 113, the pair had an unbroken partnership of 50 with Butt smashing three 6's in his 21 and Akhlaq carrying his bat having scored a majestic 139 off 138 deliveries giving Town a final total of 282 for 6 off their allotted 50 overs with only 22 extras.
Pick of Westbury's bowlers was Charlie Williams with figures of 9-1-4 for 59. With no other Town player making a significant contribution with the bat, one can only wonder what the final total could have been. However, it could be argued that this 20/20 approach was the significant factor esp with 9 players fasting.

With a large total to defend nothing but a victory would have been good enough, and with an inform Idrees Butt confidence must have been high. However, that early optimism soon waned when Westbury's openers Tice and Gurney set about the run chase proving they were no slouches themselves reaching a 100 with relative ease.
Bowler Zak Khan made the breakthrough when he trapped Gurney LBW on 46 with the total on 105, an innings that lasted 83 minutes comprising of four boundaries and two 6's. The joy however, was short lived as Westbury remained resolute taking advantage of any loose bowling with opener Tice reaching his 50 in the process.

The run fest continued with Tice and Harper putting on 88 when the former 2 short of his century was caught by Raja with the total on 193. This gave Butt and Town a much sought after wicket which was the catalyst for the collapse that was to ensue.
Westbury went from looking victorious at 193 for 2 to an incredible 221 all out further reduced to 215 following a penalty for foul play.
The chief destroyer of dreams was the Authoritative Butt ably supported by Hàroon Málik. Butt followed up the wicket of Tice by bowling Harper for 22 and with the score still on 193 exposed the middle order. Alarmed by the sudden loss of wickets Butt could sense the panic in the opposition and proceeded to tear through them with the wickets of Wilson, Gurney and Judd who could only muster 10 runs between them. Malik then gave us a reminder of his voracity bowling Markham for 9 leaving Westbury teetering on 208 for 7.

Just when things couldn't get any better, Butt struck a fatal blow which all but guaranteed victory and gave him a 3 ball hatrick. Having bowled Judd for 0 on the last ball of a previous over, he returned to bowl Williams and C Harper for 0 in successive balls causing hysteria amongst his teammates at his hatrick and seven wicket haul. Malik wrapped up the innings taking the final wicket of Treadwell for 9 leaving Westbury with a final total adjusted to 215 all out.

Town had won the top of the table clash in dramatic fashion leaving Westbury players wondering where it had all gone wrong. Westbury had capitulated squandering their last 8 wickets for a measly 22 runs handing victory to deserved Wolverton XI.
After much contemplation my FB MOTM goes to Idrees Butt for his 7 wicket haul with final figures of 9-0-7 for 35. Skipper Akhlaq's 139 was a fine example of batting without which the total and outcome may have been different. However, Butt's 7 wicket haul was critical in winning this match and as such pips Akhlaq to the award.

Another superfluous individual performance Mr B. Truly a case of no ifs but all Butts!!!

Report Submitted by Mumnoon Ahmad