PRESTWICH had to dig deep to maintain their unbeaten league record with a 21-run victory over Woodbank.
Although no batsman reached 50, this was still a high-quality encounter played out at The Heys with commendable performances on both sides.
It was a real team performance from the home side, who had found themselves in a spotof bother at 111 for 5, after two wickets fell in two balls.
Top order batsmen Carl Hey (35), Danny Jones (25) and James Wharmby (10) were already in the pavilion when Sam Holden took a risk on Nick Kennedy’s throw and was run out for an otherwise unblemished 38. With Olly Holt falling to Saj Nawaz’s next delivery, Tom Gibson was key to rebuilding the innings with a patient knock of 26.
Yet further wickets fell and with the scoreboard showing 157 for 8, Tousif Miran (pictured) stepped forward to play a delightful cameo of 17 in 21 balls to give his side the surge towards the 180-run mark.
Lewis McIntosh claimed 3 for 51 for the visitors, but the bowling accolades went to Simon Read, who bowled unbroken for 25 overs, and returned 3 for 66 as Prestwich set a target of 184.
Opener Brett Collins made an aggressive start, crashing four fours and a six in his 22 before he was the first of Andy Bradley’s five victims.
With Bradley bowling tightly in tandem with Jones, Woodbank found runs hard to come by and fell behind the run rate. Bradley struck twice more before Nawaz was sent in to boost the run rate, and succeeded immediately with two sixes into the adjoining field.
But Bradley’s shrewd decision to bring Holden into the attack paid off with his very first ball, knocking back Nawaz’s off stump.
At 79 for 6, Nick Haynes and Steve Loster relit the Woodbank hopes with a 38-run stand in 31 minutes, before Jones claimed his third wicket, with a well-taken low catch by wicketkeeper Wharmby.
Read and Haynes kept the scoreboard ticking, but when Read was caught by Miran at mid-on off Bradley for 16, and Bradley bowled John Chapman two balls later, the game was up, and the final pair played out the final few deliveries for a point. Haynes finished unbeaten with an excellent 42.
Bradley’s 22-overs reaped rewards of 5 for 64, but it was superseded by the exhausting efforts of paceman Jones, who emulated Read’s efforts by bowling non-stop for 25 overs, and finishing with 3 for 74.
The victory lifted Prestwich into second place in the Lees Lancashire County League, and face a short trip to Cheetham Hill on Saturday , before a home game against Settle in the Lancashire Cup second round on Sunday.
