Victory slips from Crompton’s grasp

CRICKET: 

AT the halfway stage of their John Willie Lees Wood Cup first-round tie at Unsworth, Crompton must have been confident of progressing to the quarter-finals.

But it all went horribly wrong for Simon Wright's men, brushed aside by the belligerence of an opening batsmen, his cool partner in crime and the excellence of the home professional.

Captain Wright achieved his first objective on a sunny day by winning the toss. Crompton took first guard.

Wright later reckoned the wicket behaved better for the team batting second, but that said, Crompton wore smug smiles of satisfaction after rattling up 234 for eight.

Professional Josh Tolley was his usual self during a fine knock of 79. He shared an impressive opening stand of 85 with Zafar Jatoi (37) and, despite the spinning guile of Liam Richards (four for 17 from 10 overs), the visitors were able to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Overseas amateur Denis Louis, with his first batting contribution since his late arrival from the West Indies, made 28, Aqib Zulfiqar 24 and Marlon Black 23.

That total would have been enough to win most games in the CLL, but the whirlwind antics of Mohammed Jehangir put a whole new slant on the match.

Jehangir smashed five sixes and a four in a 20-ball knock of 44 that gave Unsworth solid momentum.

He was bowled by Black with the score on 49, but the damage had already been done and the rest of the Unsworth batsmen were able to benefit from his brilliance.

Chief among them was 28-year-old Jeff Keyt from Melbourne. Happy to let Jehangir hog the strike, Unsworth's overseas amateur came into his own after the departure of his opening partner, compiling a superb century. In doing so, he shared in a fourth-wicket stand of 116 with classy professional Chris Williams which guided the hosts to a seven-wicket success.

Williams brought up his 50 with Unsworth clearly in sight of their target, then Keyt reached three

figures by dispatching a Steven Wright long-hop to mid-wicket.

He rightly received a standing ovation from the home supporters and, after finishing unbeaten on 107 – Williams was still there on 51 – Keyt was a deserved winner of the man-of-the-match award.