U-MARVELLOUS 3RD TEAMERS

by | Friday July 19th 2019 | Cricket

While the eyes of the cricketing fraternity were understandably glued to England’s amazing World Cup victory, there was a cracking game taking place at The Heys between two youthful and talented third teams last Sunday.
Both Greenmount 3rds and Prestwich 3rds are in the upper echelons of the GMCL Sunday Premier Division, and you could see why in this closely-fought contest.
Greenmount were restricted to 128 for 8 off their 40 overs, with Umar Arif the pick of the home bowlers, taking 4 for 22.
Prestwich overhauled the score with 3 wickets and 2 overs to spare, thanks to Luke Prescott (33), Liam Hunt (26), and Josh Ahern (25 not out). Arif fittingly chalked up the winning runs with a well-struck four to the legside boundary.
Evan Williams was the star Greenmount bowler, taking 5 for 29.
The 1st and 2nd teams suffered the blues against their Roe Green counterparts on Saturday.
At home, Prestwich 1st XI again struggled to set a total, after plunging to 25 for 3. A mini-revival between Danny Pawson (22) and Ryan Stanbury (32) boosted the score to 79, before a stand of 46 between James Wharmby (22) and Tom Gibson (19) took the total from 85 for 5 to 131 for 6, before the innings ended on 144 for 8.
The home side battled hard against their resilient visitors, taking 7 scalps, but Luke Norris (67 not out) proved immovable despite Stanbury’s return of 4-34, and they surpassed the target to record a 3-wicket victory.
The 2nd team fared no better away at Greenleach Lane although it started brightly when Lewis Smith (35) and Adam Taylor(31) put on 62 for the first wicket. They collapsed to 110 for 8 before a resurgence led by Adam Cheshire (35 not out) in a 40-run partnership with Josh Ahern (12) enabled them to post a score of 159 all out.
Wickets were hard to come by and Green ran out comfortable winners by six wickets.
There was better news last Thursday when the 2nds, playing under the name of Prestwich Patriots, recorded another T20 success, beating Stretford Spitfires by 9 runs.
Patriots set a total of 144 for 7, but the Spitfires were shot down for 135 for 6.