Old hands swing it in cup thriller

Photo: Chris Sunderland

YOU’RE GONE . . . Friarmere batsman Darren Graham loses his middle stump to Moorside’s Miles Barnes.

CRICKET: STEVEN Howard and Peter Skuse — two of Saddleworth’s wily campaigners — combined to break Droylsden’s hearts in a Tanner Cup encounter at a gusty Well-i-Hole.

Captain Howard and his former skipper Skuse got the runs with 94 and 73 respectively and did their bit with the ball to inspire victory off the very last delivery of the game.

Droylsden, no longer the whipping boys of the Saddleworth and District Cricket League, seemingly had this round-one tie in the bag after first mounting up 245 and then reducing their hosts to 46 for three with a third of the 45 overs gone.

But Howard and his cunning Australian sidekick refused to buckle against Michael Schofield’s visitors, and through a mixture of dogged determination and inspired shot-selection kept their team in the contest.

Even the dismissal of Skuse, with 73 runs still needed off eight overs, could not halt Saddleworth’s charge as Steven ‘Boom, Boom’ Taylor put the Droylsden bowling attack to the sword with a rapid 19.

The Droylsden batsmen also dished out some hefty punishment.

Bari Akbar rode his luck on several occasions on his way to 80, which included five sixes and nine fours.

The opener put on 114 with Aqib Uppal in 20 overs for the second wicket, with the latter contributing 59.

Howard had tried six bowlers before turning to himself, and he got a wicket with his very first ball when Akbar was caught by wicketkeeper Michael Jones.

He also removed Uppal to a fine catch in the windy conditions by Danny Hesford, and Wasim Qasim, who had moved on to a quickfire 37 before missing a straight ball.

Skuse also picked up a couple of wickets as Droylsden’s resistance evaporated with the loss of their last four wickets for only 10 runs.

Saddleworth got off to a shocking start. Aussie overseas amateur Jones, Ian Hague and Ben Willis were early victims to the Mohammed Shakir-Schofield axis.

But a fourth-wicket partnership of 127 in 19 overs between Howard and Skuse, who had helped Saddleworth win three Tanner Cups since the new Millennium, gave them a squeak.

Saddleworth needed 44 runs off the last four overs, but the target was down to a run-a-ball with just one over to go.

Howard hit the first delivery for four — one of nine boundaries and four sixes in his 90-ball stay — but was out off the very next delivery.

Hesford lasted two balls before he was bowled by Qasim, but Taylor and Brian Lord held their nerve to run two singles and snatch an unlikely success.