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Peiris hits a ton

Mark Wilbraham
17/ 7/2008

WOOD Cup holders Heywood knocked Littleborough out of the competition for the fourth time in five seasons when they achieved a comfortable victory at Crimble on Sunday.

The holders posted an imposing score of 241 and then dismissed Boro for 130 to move into the semi-final.

The rare sight of some summer sunshine encouraged a healthy crowd to turn out for the re-arranged match, thereby justifying the decision to play on Sunday rather than during the midweek evenings last week.

Home supporters saw Heywood get off to a good start. They put on 64 for the first wicket, although they did have a couple of lucky escapes.

Ruvin Peiris was put down by Curtis Maguire at point in the second over, and soon after wicket-keeper Bill Williams missed a stumping chance with Peiris well out of his crease.

Littleborough were made to pay for these slip ups as Peiris carried his bat for an unbeaten century, but he was given excellent support by Tom Hardman, Royce Blight and Jon Storey.

Hardman also had a let off when he was caught off a no ball in the 14th over, but this didn’t prove too costly for Boro as they removed him two overs later, leg before to Brendan Miskella.

Peiris and Blight looked completely at ease with the Littleborough bowling and scored at around five runs per over to take the score to 150 before the second wicket fell.

Blight was the man to go when Matthew Collins took a superb caught and bowled chance with the ball inches off the ground.

Bobby Cross made only seven before chipping Phil Deakin to Maguire at mid-wicket, and in the same over Danny Pawson was bowled without troubling the scorers.

Heywood had reached 175 by this point and with 15 overs still remaining a total in excess of 250 seemed likely.

Peiris and Mark Kenny added 29 in five overs before Kenny became Kamran Hussain’s first victim when he was caught behind by Williams.

Hussain then snapped up Lee Grogan and Chris Kaye – both for ‘ducks’ – and Heywood had stuttered to 206 for seven with only three overs left.

Their main problem was that Peiris had struggled to dominate the strike, although he did bring up his hundred with a delicate single towards third man.

The last three overs provided terrific entertainment, with Jon Storey taking the Littleborough bowlers to task.

The former Milnrow man scored 30 in next to no time, Deakin seeing the first two balls of the final over sail over the long on boundary for sixes.

Storey’s cameo role took Heywood to a score their early dominance suggested was likely, and it gave Boro a real mountain to climb if they were to reach their first semi-final in nine years.

They made the worst possible start by losing openers Curtis Maguire and Rudi Keiser inside three overs.

Maguire was beaten for pace by the excellent Tom Hardman and saw his off stump rattled, while Keiser was caught at slip off Steven Cheetham.

Phil Deakin had promoted himself to number four in an attempt to put the brakes on Heywood’s aggressive start, but he made only seven before being trapped leg before by Hardman.

Littleborough were in all sorts of trouble at 19 for three, but Gary Hulme and Hussain saw off the opening bowlers and started to get the scoreboard ticking over.

This pair were realistically Boro’s last hope, but their partnership ended with the score on 59 in the most unfortunate of circumstances.

Hulme looked to cut a short delivery from Storey but got over the ball and knocked it down onto his stumps.

Storey then bowled Williams, and when Hussain was caught and bowled by Chris Kaye, pictured left, for a fine 44 the game was definitely up for Littleborough.

Andy Rodgerson and Jamie Roche became Kaye’s next two victims and Littleborough had eight men out with the score still short of a hundred.

Danny Thewlis, Matthew Collins and Brendan Miskella hung around for a few more overs to frustrate the home attack, but it was only a matter of time before Heywood took the final two wickets to clinch a 111-run victory.

ON Saturday with the first team’s match at Rochdale falling victim to the weather, the second team took centre stage at Crimble.

In a match reduced to 32 overs, Heywood came up trumps and edged out Rochdale by six runs in a tight finish.

Mark Wright (46), Smethurst (31) and Rick Purser (30 not out) were the main contributors to Heywood’s total of 137. And it was that man Purser again, bowling unchanged for 15 overs from a ‘one-pace’ run up, who claimed five wickets as Rochdale fell short by the closest of margins.

This weekend Rochdale make the return trip to Crimble on Saturday in a match sponsored by Berwick Glass, and on Sunday, it’s Wood Cup semi-final time as the winners of the Walsden-Crompton tie visit Crimble.

Following the Rochdale match, there will be a ‘Curry and Quiz Night’ at the club, while the following Saturday, there will be a ‘Cocktail Evening’ – details in the clubouse.