Arthington 1st XI – 201/5 25.2 overs	197 all out – Thorp Arch & Boston Spa 1st XI 40.3 overs
Naveed Andrabi: 63* Himanshu Satyawan: 59	Inam Piran: 10-1-40-5 Brahm Singh: 11.3-1-48-2

blistering and ultimately lethal spell of bowling from Arthington’s young pace bowler Inam Piran was key to setting up victory in their latest fixture against Thorp Arch & Boston Spa. The home side won the toss and chose to bat first on a hot and humid day with rain around, which did come into play at certain stages.

 

The opposition made a quick start reaching 37 in the sixth over before Piran first impacted proceedings. The Arthington opening bowler took wickets in his third, fourth and seventh overs along with two in his sixth to secure a superb five-wicket haul. The wickets were almost all of his own making too, as the stumps were splattered on four occasions either side of a catch by Rahul Khode. The positive start of 37/0 had turned into a fraught 67/5 as Piran ended his first spell in the 14th over.

 

Two more wickets fell before the drinks interval, one to Syed Javaid in his first over following a catch by Ahmer Sadiq as well as a clean bowled by Brahm Singh, who had come on to replace the unusually wicketless Umar Farooq, which left the hosts at 84/7 and in real danger of falling away to a very chaseable total.

 

Whether it was due to determination from the batting side or an unwillingness to land the killing blows by the visitors is up for debate, but the home side managed to stage a significant recovery from the position in which they found themselves after the opening overs. An eighth wicket partnership of 47 steadied the ship, which was interrupted by captain Naveed Andrabi’s full ball into the stumps but then a further 53-run partnership for the penultimate wicket got Thorp Arch & Boston Spa into a respectable position.

 

The home side’s Michael Cole was eventually dismissed by Brahm Singh, via a catch by Rahul Khode, having reached 45 including 4 fours and 3 sixes and, thankfully for Arthington, the final partnership could only muster 13 runs before the hosts were bowled out in the 41st over thanks to a run out from wicketkeeper Himanshu Satyawan. Arthington required 198 to win.

 

The Arthington reply started well, with the opening pair of Sajid Hussain and Ahmer Sadiq reaching 30 for no loss before the former was bowled for 14. Umar Farooq then managed a six and out as he was adjudged LBW, which brought Himanshu Satyawan to the crease for what would turn out to be an extremely memorable period of play. In just 16 deliveries, the Arthington number four amassed 59 runs in an extraordinary onslaught on the home side’s bowling. Of the 16 balls, 12 were struck for runs including 4 fours and 7 sixes. The 17th ball was struck aerially to the home side’s captain for his dismissal, but the momentum had been thrust firmly in Arthington’s direction by the barrage of boundaries with the score 115/3 after just 14 overs.

 

Sadiq was still at the crease watching the carnage and his role remained relatively unchanged as captain Naveed Andrabi took over the scoring from Satyawan, albeit in slightly less extreme fashion. The Arthington skipper sauntered past his fifty and put the visitors on the brink of victory with an unbeaten knock of 63, including 3 fours and 7 sixes.

 

Unfortunately, Sadiq fell just three runs short of carrying his bat as he was dismissed for 44 in the 25th over and, two balls later, Brahm Singh also fell victim to the 7th bowling option that the hosts had decided to throw at the league leaders. Both batsmen were caught. Fittingly, Andrabi ended proceedings with a six giving Arthington the victory by five wickets. Huge credit must go to Inam Piran for setting up victory with his devastating opening spell and also to the two half-centurions for finishing the job with a flourish.

 

The win keeps Arthington’s 1st XI in top spot in the Division 1 Ebor table and with the chasing Colton Institute losing to Drax, they now have some breathing room. Having played most of the top sides in the early part of the season, they are now enjoying some games against the lower placed sides and that continues when they host eleventh placed Fairburn at the ACG in the next game week.

 

2nd XI summary – Home against Goldsborough

 

Arthington 2nd XI – 121 all out 38.5 overs	122/6 – Goldsborough 2nd XI 35.5 overs
Zaid Anwar: 34 Geoff Barker: 29	Riaz Piran: 10-3-25-4 Dougie Jones: 6.5-1-21-1

 

Arthington’s 2nd XI were looking to back up a rare victory this season with another strong performance, but their batting innings was going to need to involve different individuals to the three that so convincingly got them over the line a week prior, with two being unavailable and a third, Umer Khan, dismissed without scoring from just the third ball of the match after the hosts had been put in to bat first.

 

Two more wickets fell before any semblance of control was brought to the innings, but Geoff Barker and Joe Seaborne were able to construct a 41-run partnership and take the innings past drinks, albeit at a rate of less than three runs per over, with the bowlers certainly having the better of the early stages: a trend that would continue throughout the match.

 

The partnership was broken in the 25th over when Seaborne, in an effort to accelerate the scoring rate, charged down the pitch to the Goldsborough spinner, missed his shot down the ground and was easily stumped for 13. Zaid Anwar then joined Barker at the crease and the pair were involved in a run out when Anwar called for a two into the leg-side, which was probably there to be taken in most cases, but the throw to the non-striker’s end was fast and accurate and when the bails were removed, the Arthington opener was short of his ground and had to depart for 29.

 

Jo Nash was bowled for a single soon after and the quick brace of wickets ignited something in Anwar who began playing some nice shots in a flamboyant innings which was in stark contrast to what had come before him. Together with Gareth Meredith, for whom practice had clearly paid off, the pair put on 36 runs for the seventh wicket, with Anwar making 34 including 4 fours and Meredith, 17. Both were dismissed, however, in consecutive overs by means of missing straight deliveries and being bowled to leave the Arthington innings once again in the mire.

 

None of the bottom three batsmen could influence the scoring at the end and two more wickets fell in the penultimate over to end the home side’s innings on 121 all out. Henry Saul was the stand out bowler for the visitors picking up 4 for just 13 runs.

 

In reply, questions were soon being asked about what the Piran household had had for breakfast that morning as Riaz Piran swiftly joined his brother’s efforts from the 1st XI match in the wickets column, picking up three wickets in his first three overs. Two wickets came courtesy of Martin Dickinson, who did a fine job behind the stumps in the absence of the regular Arthington wicketkeeper, either side of a superb delivery that smacked into the stumps.

 

The next batting pair were together for 11 overs and, with the required run rate not really a concern, they were able to take things steady, though not without opportunity, as a sharp chance at slip was put down during Joe Seaborne’s opening spell by the Arthington captain. The change bowling of Dougie Jones made the breakthrough in his second over when the ball was lofted to Will Sparling at mid-off who continued an outstanding day in the field by holding onto the catch.

 

Unfortunately, for Arthington, the visitors accumulated 49 more runs for the next partnership and tilted the chase heavily in their favour. The returning Riaz Piran broke the partnership when the batsman played onto his own stumps to give the Arthington opening bowler his fourth wicket, but the score was 97/5 with 12 overs still to be bowled.

 

There was a brief glimmer of hope when Joe Seaborne and Martin Dickinson combined for a caught behind for the sixth wicket, but Henry Saul, who was having quite the match-winning performance, together with the number eight batsman, managed to steer the Goldsborough innings over the line, finishing on 30 not out. Goldsborough won by four wickets in the 36th over.

 

Despite the defeat for Arthington, there were many positives to be taken from the match, particularly with the ball and in the field. Everyone, to a man, fielded well and the Arthington bowlers made the second placed team in Nidderdale division 4 work for every run. Unfortunately, they were probably 20 or 30 runs short with the bat, which meant they did not quite have enough to defend. The match was played in good spirits and was very enjoyable.

 

Next week, Arthington, who now sit bottom of the table, travel to Spofforth.