Arthington 2nd XI – 202/9 39.4 overs	201/7 – South Kilvington 1st XI 40 overs
Alex O’Neil: 111 Kamrosh Khan: 21	Riaz Piran: 10-2-34-2 Zaid Anwar: 9-1-43-2

Following the concession of the 1st XI’s opposition, which gave them an uncontested victory, Arthington’s full attention turned to the match at the ACG between the 2nd XI and South Kilvington. The two sides played out one of the most memorable matches of the season. A real nail-biter that could have gone either way until the final ball had been bowled.

 

The match began in fairly typical fashion, with Arthington captain Luke Seaborne losing another toss and South Kilvington choosing to bat first on a brand-new wicket. The opening spells of Joe Seaborne and Riaz Piran were outstanding and restricted the opening batsmen to scraps despite their clear intentions to get their team off to a fast start. Seaborne’s nagging line, just outside off stump, beat the bat on numerous occasions and Piran altered his length perfectly to adapt to the two differing styles of the batsmen.

The early pressure eventually told, when a length delivery from Piran took the outside edge of the South Kilvington captain to be excellently caught by Joe Seaborne at slip, moving low to his right. With the very next ball, the dangerous number three was bowled out for a duck to reward Piran’s excellent spell with a brace of wickets and tilt the balance in Arthington’s favour. Their chances were further boosted when Joe Seaborne, in the final over of a seven-over spell, beat the bat on the inside, on this occasion, to unseat the bails.

With the change of bowlers some pressure was released as Luke Seaborne and Ritankar Chakraborty bowled with less control than the openers, including some erratic deliveries that forced stand-in wicketkeeper Martin Dickinson into some diving stops in both directions, that prevented several boundaries. There was still some joy for the home side, however, as Chakraborty took the edge to be caught at gully by Seaborne, but despite the loss of four wickets, the run-rate steadily increased, and the away side’s opening batsman was still at the crease.

 

In the first half of proceedings, a few half-chances had presented themselves, but misjudgements and unfortunate placement meant that they landed safe. After drinks, however, the standard of Arthington’s fielding plummeted to new depths as regular and at times baffling drops gave the visiting batsmen far more lives than they would normally get. Over the course of the final twenty overs, straightforward chances were dropped at cover, point, mid-wicket, long-on and long-off, most of which proved costly.

 

Zaid Anwar had replaced Luke Seaborne at the far end of the ground initially, before being switched to the near, and his spell created most of the chances. He was rewarded with two wickets in the end, both catches taken by Gareth Meredith at long-on who somewhat made up for an earlier drop when the ball went through his hands all the way for six. The first of these wickets was the most important, as it removed the South Kilvington opener, who had batted extremely well for his 92 runs from 99 balls, including 15 fours and 2 sixes, though he would be the first to admit that his innings should have ended a lot sooner.

Either side of Anwar’s wickets, Arthington’s captain Luke Seaborne had brought himself on to bowl the closing overs and a back of a length ball induced the batsman into playing onto his own stumps to give him his first and only wicket of the match, though he proceeded to drop a high catch at long-off in the penultimate over, ultimately costing a fourth bowling point, so the mood was far from jubilant. After the 40 overs had concluded, South Kilvington had amassed 201/7, with Arthington questioning how much easier their forthcoming run-chase could have been had some of the dropped catches been taken.

 

In reply, Umer Khan did not seem to get the measure of the lively pace of one of the away side’s opening bowlers, often playing shots late or misjudging the line. Alex O’Neil, on the other hand, had no such trouble and after sending an early shot to the boundary for a four, he picked the follow-up slower ball and deposited it into the field for a six. Shortly after, the pressure on Khan eventually became too much and a full, straight ball pierced his defences for the first wicket.

Kamrosh Khan was next to the crease to partner O’Neil and played a composed innings at a steady strike rate in an eighty-run partnership. O’Neil, however, had decided to get on the front foot, in more ways than one, and was peppering the boundaries in several directions with fours and sixes. Though many seemed not to connect with the middle of his bat, his power was sufficient for them to clear the boundaries over the heads of the many fielders now stationed on the perimeter of the ground, or find gaps where fielders were not.

 

By the time Khan was dismissed for 21 shortly before drinks, caught behind, O’Neil had reached 79 and the score 118/2. The run-rate was under control and there were several capable batsmen awaiting their turn. Ritankar Chakraborty was the next to get the opportunity but a mixture of defensive and watchful batting and good tactics by the visitors meant that despite him taking most of the deliveries, he was not able to beat the infield with any regularity and was ultimately bowled for eight by the returning opening bowler.

 

Gareth Meredith followed, LBW, just two balls later, undone by the pace and despite O’Neil’s dominance at one end, it had become a bit nervy at the other, particularly as South Kilvington were doing an excellent job of keeping him at the non-striker’s end. It was in significant contrast to the rest of his innings, therefore, that he did finally bring up his century following four consecutive singles. A terrific effort and his first century for several seasons, his fourth overall for Arthington.

 

Soon after, after one more four and a further six, he lost his wicket when he failed to connect cleanly with a full ball and dragged the ball agonisingly onto his stumps. Having made 111 runs form just 85 balls, including 12 fours and 6 sixes, he had surely done enough to secure a victory for the hosts.

However, if anything can be learned from watching Arthington matches this season, it is that they often fail to make it easy and this match was no different. The score went from a comfortable 172/4 prior to O’Neil’s wicket to 176/9 as the Arthington middle order melted away like a snowball in a furnace.

 

In an attempt to go over the infield, Malcolm Barraclough’s 30-ball innings ended via a catch at mid-off, having made seven. Only one further run was added before Martin Dickinson was heading back to the pavilion for a duck following an LBW, Zaid Anwar edged a full, wide delivery straight to gully and Arthington’s captain, inexplicably, ballooned a ball skywards and was also caught at mid-off.

 

In the space of a few overs, an almost inevitable victory for Arthington had them clinging on by their fingertips. Only the opening bowling pair of Joe Seaborne and Riaz Piran now stood in the way of a victory for the visitors. Not insignificant, also, was the required run-rate, which had increased since O’Neil’s dismissal. 25 runs were required for victory from the remaining six overs of the contest.

 

Seaborne and Piran began cautiously, taking a run from the 35th over and four from the 36th, with the help of a couple of wide deliveries. The 37th over, however, went the way of the hosts, with Seaborne striking a boundary through square leg from the first ball before the final ball of the over beat everyone and went for four byes.

The 38th over probably went the way of South Kilvington, with just two runs coming from it, meaning nine runs were still needed from the final twelve balls and with Piran on strike. The pair scampered a run after three deliveries before Seaborne navigated the remaining three deliveries superbly, striking a four through the off-side before taking a single from the last ball.

 

Now, Arthington were possibly favourites, but their position was no-less perilous as a wicket would end the contest as quickly as a boundary. The second ball of the final over was parried by the cover fielder to stop a four, but the loose ball still needed to be gathered and the batting pair ran two. There was even the thought of a third, to end the tie there and then, but Seaborne decided against it. The scores were tied. A dot ball ramped up the tension but Seaborne took a couple of steps down the wicket to the fourth ball of the over, nudged it into the leg-side where it was not gathered cleanly allowing for a single and therefore an Arthington victory. The most composed player on the ground, Seaborne, finished on 18 from 22 deliveries. Great credit must also be given to young Riaz Piran, who survived 16 balls himself and made a Jack Leach-esque two.

 

A rollercoaster of emotions ended in a much-needed victory for the hosts, who move out of the relegation zone in division four, albeit barely. Their next three matches are all against sides in the bottom half of the table and will ultimately determine their fate. The first of those is away against Bishop Thornton.

The Arthington 1st XI are still two points clear at the top of the Division 1 Ebor table following Ledsham’s concession. It is thought that this will be enough to secure a promotion, however, their obvious goal is to go up as champions. They also have a chance of obtaining an additional trophy next weekend as part of a double-header: Scarcroft at home in the league followed by a cup final against Scalby CC, to be played at New Earswick in York.