CRICKET: Willoughby century for Sidhu

Sidhu’s century in impressive run chase overshadows four wicket hauls for Crane and Stevenson

South Northants Cricket League

Division 1

Willoughby v Croughton

Willoughby 143 all out

Croughton 109 all out

Willoughby won by 34 runs

Four wickets apiece for Nick Crane and Tom Stevenson helped Willoughby to another useful league win which keeps them in touch with the promotion race at the top of the table.

The omens did not look so promising for the hosts initially as having been asked to bat on a damp wicket from morning showers, they were reduced to 8 for 2 early on and then struggled to reach 40 for 4 at the halfway point.

However, Graham Hallam’s 42 and 29 from Stevenson went some way to taking Willoughby over three figures and to an eventual 143 all out.

In reply, the visitors were pegged back by first Crane and then Stevenson who returned figures of 4 for 29 and 4 for 28 respectively in a fine show of bowling.

Only Croughton opener Darren Atkins with 54 showed any resistance as the visitors were bowled out for 109, leaving Willoughby victors by 34 runs and one win away from the second promotion spot going into this weekend’s return local derby game at Dunchurch & Bilton.

Division 3

Preston Bissett v Willoughby A

Preston Bissett 242-4

Willoughby A 243-6

Willoughby A won by 4 wickets

The efforts of the first eleven were overshadowed by those of Willoughby’s depleted second string who chased down a big total at Preston Bissett largely thanks to a fine century from Manny Sidhu.

The youngsters coming in at number seven made a superb 114 not out to see the visitors to a memorable four wicket victory.

The hosts batted first and probably thought they had done enough to secure the win having got off to a whirlwind start reaching 80 off the first ten overs and eventually making 242 for 4 off their allotted overs. George Jackman’s 49 was backed by John Thurston’s 68 not out later in the innings as the visitors bowling toiled. One of Willoughby’s up and coming youth cricketers, Adam Whitfield, emerged best with the ball taking 2 for 45.

In reply, the early loss of Sean Thornton then saw Usama Khawaja come in for a quick fire 28 but at 60 for 4 the game still looked out of Willoughby’s reach.

However Sidhu had other ideas and along with Matt Smart took the game to the hosts who perhaps thinking were home and hosed went down to 10 men when one of their young bowlers departed to a concert!

How wrong that move proved to be as Sidhu and Smart put on 150 for the fifth wicket before the latter departed for 52. Sidhu continued his assault going past his fifty before the youngster took only another 20 balls to record his second ton inside a year for the club.

Badj Rahman came in and added valuable support lower with 17 not out but the plaudits belonged to Sidhu as he took Willoughby to their target, finishing on 114 not out as the visitors completed an incredible run chase to win by four wickets with still two overs to spare.

Fixtures:

Thursday 14th – 6.30pm starts

Rugby & District Cricket League

Under 15 League

Southam v Willoughby

Under 11 League

Willoughby v Rugby

Saturday – 2pm starts

South Northants Cricket League

Division 1: Dunchurch & Bilton v Willoughby

Division 3: Willoughby A v Sibford

Sunday – 10.30am start

Rugby and District Cricket League

Under 13 KO Cup Final

Barby v Willoughby Under 13s

at Barby CC

Club Friendly – 2pm start

Willoughby v Leek Wootton

ECB Club Open Day & 6-a-Side

The first weekend in July and finally some warm sunshine to enjoy, and it came at the right time as the bunting and balloons came out for Willoughby CC’s ECB Open Day and 6-a-Side.

It is the second year that Willoughby have been involved with the ECB initiative, which is supported by Waitrose and encourages cricket clubs to open their doors and welcome the local community for a day of cricket, food and family fun.

And they could not have picked a better day with picnics and a BBQ and a little bit of cricket were very much the order of the day as Willoughby welcomed young and old to The Green.

Early morning saw the club’s regular Kwik Cricket session before the day’s 6-a-side took shape. In what was very much a social affair in keeping with the ethos of the day, a combination of WCC senior and junior players, parents and an invited guest team competed against each other in a round robin competition before a knockout semi-final and final, all to a backdrop of some Twenty20 style music.

Many thanks to Claire and her team at Waitrose in Daventry for their kind support and assistance in helping make the club’s ECB Open Day successful once again.

Thanks also to everyone within the club for their organisation and participation.