Dynamic duo steer Uppermill to glory

Photo: Tim Bradley

WHAT A CELEBRATION . . . Uppermill are all smiles following their Twenty20 triumph.

CRICKET: IF Carlsberg did finals, they wouldn’t be as good as Uppermill.

The previous three involving the club’s first XI – two tension-filled duels against Moorside in the Tanner Cup and this Twenty20 thriller with Glodwick – have all gone to the final over.

And their record now reads won two, tied one after their one-wicket triumph over the recently-crowned Saddleworth and District Cricket League champions on Saturday.

In a confrontation in which pendulum swung in each side’s favour more than once, number 11 batsman Andrew Jones sealed victory off the penultimate ball of the innings.

But while he was the hero of the moment, it was the contributions of Cloete Buitendag and Alex Griffiths that clinched a first T20 Cup success for Uppermill.

Overseas amateur Buitendag struck 52 following his unbeaten 77 in the day’s first semi-final against Saddleworth.

Griffiths produced one of his typically tenacious knocks – 43 from 33 balls – which we've come to expect from the wicketkeeper-batsman.

No-one at Leefields could have foreseen such an enthralling encounter when Glodwick, conquerors of holders Heyside earlier in the afternoon, slumped to seven for three.

Professional Rehan Rafiq, Shahid Mahmood and Anees Ur Rehman had all departed.

But Glodwick showed just why have been the team to beat this year. Brad Heap, in at seven, blitzed 74 from only 31 balls, as spinners Buitendag and James Baron were spectacularly smashed out of the attack.

Glodwick were dismissed for 155, with eight balls of their 20 overs remaining.


ON the final day of the Saddleworth and District League season, champions Glodwick signed off with a 71-runs win over Moorside – professional Rehan Rafiq struck 103 – and

Brian Lord hit an unbeaten 109 as runners-up Saddleworth beat Micklehurst by 33 runs.