Arthington 1st XI – 151/3 15.3 overs	150 all out –Studley Royal 1st XI 41 overs
Abdul Saboor: 66* Owais Khan: 41*	Rahul Khode: 10-1-40-3 Javaid Hussain: 4-0-5-2

In the latest episode of playing cricket in a sweltering summer heatwave, Arthington’s 1st XI hosted Bolton Percy at the ACG, hoping to extend a promising run of victories further. They tasted defeat at the toss, however, as the opposing captain chose to bat first.

 

The opening overs belonged to the hosts as the stumps proved to be an excellent conductor when they intercepted the ball for the first three wickets, one each to Sourav Chandolia, Usama Shahid and Rahul Khode. Bolton Percy’s most promising spell saw them add 46 runs for the fourth wicket, the highest stand of the innings, but once a Naveed Andrabi LBW broke through it began a collapse where the visitors lost six wickets for just 39 runs.

 

Rahul Khode added a caught and bowled and an Andrabi catch to his scalps for the day before the captain then bookended those two dismissals with another LBW to remove the Bolton Percy captain Tom Atkinson for 46. The sixth Arthington bowling option brought little relief either as Javaid Hussain quickly got into his stride and took an early wicket shortly after Sourav Chandolia had doubled his tally via a catch by Himanshu Satyawan.

 

The last wicket pair held out as best they could and added 21 runs to reach 150 exactly, but Hussain unseated the bails for a second time to complete the job.

 

Though the scoring rate in the reply was quick, it also brought about three dismissals as Harsh Patel was caught at long-off, Hari Krishan was given out LBW and the formidable Himanshu Satyawan met a tame end on this occasion when he served up a straightforward chance to mid-off that was taken. What joy remained for the away side having reduced the hosts to 51/3 evaporated in a matter of a few overs as Owais Khan’s comparatively pedestrian 41 runs from 38 balls was paired with an explosion of sixes from Abdul Saboor, who reached 63 in just 22 balls. Only two fours were struck in his rapid, match-winning half century which would have been reached in maximums alone, as he managed nine in total.

 

Arthington ended up sealing victory by seven wickets in just the sixteenth over. Next week they take a confident and buoyant squad into their most important match of the season against league leaders Beckwithshaw, once more at the ACG.

 

2nd XI summary – Home against Bishop Thornton

Arthington 2nd XI – 320/3 40 overs	180 all out – Bishop Thornton 1st XI 31.5 overs
Ahmer Sadiq: 100 Steve Potter: 79	Luke Seaborne: 4.5-0-24-4 Zaid Anwar: 5-1-17-2

Conditions were no different for the Arthington 2nd XI on their travels to Bishop Thornton. After a defeat in the reverse fixture in May, a much-changed team from that day looked to tie things up for the season with a victory that would mean seven on the bounce.

 

Arthington captain Luke Seaborne won the toss and opted to bat in a promising start to proceedings. The first over could not have gone much worse, however, as several mix-ups between the opening batsmen of Umer Khan and Ahmer Sadiq culminated in Khan being run out. Sadiq made a tentative start, with his first scoring shots coming via boundaries edged through the slips, but number three Steve Potter set out with a point to prove as he scored the bulk of the runs in the early stages.

 

A mixture of blows down the ground and through the covers quickly saw Potter through the twenties and thirties but he was fortunate to see a very simple catching opportunity spilled at extra-cover to allow him to reach his first half-century for Arthington. By this time, Sadiq had also found some rhythm and passed fifty as well.

 

Though the Bishop Thornton bowlers were unable to defeat the batsmen whose partnership was well over 100 and growing, both sustained injuries that forced them from the field. Potter damaged a hamstring while running between the wickets and Sadiq saw a recurrence of a previous injury rear its head as well. Once Potter was forced to retire hurt it brought Nirav Patel to the crease whose intentions became very clear as he attacked the home side’s bowling with reckless abandon.

 

Sadiq reached his second century of the season but decided that the injury had gotten the better of him and also withdrew, not to return. His hundred came from 105 balls and included 15 fours and a six. Patel then combined explosively with Alex O’Neil, both striking at over 200 and propelling the Arthington score towards 300 and their highest total of the season. Patel was eventually the victim of a run out as even his swift scampering could not prevent him being short of his ground. His 37-ball 78 was littered with shots down the ground as well as through cover and mid-wicket including 9 fours and 5 sixes.

 

Steve Potter attempted to return at this point, with the score 282/2 but could not score with any fluency in an effort to reach his century and a top edge eventually went skyward and was well caught by the bowler after an extended follow-through. The longer first half of Potter’s innings played a pivotal role in setting up the match and included 16 fours. Meanwhile, O’Neil was still reaching the boundary with frequent ease and 17 runs were added in the final over with Luke Seaborne sneaking a two from his only ball faced, the final delivery of the innings. O’Neil’s 39 from just 17 balls included 3 fours and 3 sixes. Arthington finished their innings on 320/3, the 2nd XI’s highest ever score.

 

Though the target was substantial, it was no secret that conditions massively favoured the batsmen, so the visitors still had to suffer a little in the heat and on a flat wicket. The usually lethal Joe Seaborne had a rare failure in his opening spell and did not take a wicket, but Luke Seaborne was able to breach the opener’s defence at the other end via a deflection off the pads onto leg-stump. The pads were then heavily involved in his second dismissal as they blocked a stumps-bound ball for an LBW.

 

Short spells were the order of the day and the Seabornes were soon withdrawn from the attack to be replaced by Nirav Patel and Zaid Anwar. Anwar certainly bowled the better of the two with a consistent and nagging back of a length ball being his stock delivery, but Patel produced a moment of extraordinary fielding off his own bowling to dismiss the remaining opening batsman. A full, half-volley was blasted down the ground, destined for the straight boundary behind the umpire but Patel stuck out a hand in his follow-through and the ball stuck to the surprise of everyone on the field. 

 

Anwar then got his rewards for a fine spell in the tricky conditions to first bowl the Bishop Thornton captain before inducing an edge behind for an excellent catch by Dave Howard who had come up to the stumps. Patel also managed his second wicket, this one via an LBW to leave the hosts 101/6 and with seemingly no chance of victory anymore.

 

Maximum batting points for the home side also seemed to be slipping away after two further wickets came shortly after, first courtesy of Umer Khan via a terrible piece of cricket that resulted in a simple catch at point by Luke Seaborne. The poor ball was matched only by the shot on this occasion. The second of the two required the steady hands of Nirav Patel once again, who was already celebrating before the catch stuck to give Muhammad Ali his first wicket.

 

But a period of defiance then followed as Bishop Thornton’s numbers seven and ten restored some respectability to their score in a 64-run stand. Khan and Ali’s remaining overs could not break the partnership nor could a handful of overs from Martin Dickinson, but the return of both Seaborne brothers did then bring the match to a close. Once again, Joe Seaborne’s deliveries were kept out, but Luke Seaborne struck twice in his fifth over, his first of a second spell, to twice dismantle the stumps and end the match. The home side ended their innings 180 all out in the 32nd over.

 

Another dominant victory, the seventh in succession, sees Arthington retain their 2nd place spot in Division 4. The win belongs to the batsmen who put on a serious display of hitting to reach a record total for the Arthington 2nd XI but credit must also go to the bowlers who stuck to a difficult task to ensure maximum bowling points were also taken back to Arthington. Next week, the 2nd XI are on the road again when they travel to Rainton against whom they managed a ten-wicket win in the reverse fixture. It may not be quite so easy this time around, however.