Arthington 1st XI went into their penultimate match of their first season in division one with a score to settle, having suffered a comprehensive defeat to their opponents earlier in the season in the reverse fixture at the ACG. There was also a lot to play for following defeat in their previous match, which had allowed Darley to take the upper hand in the race for a runner’s up spot in the table. The fortunes of both teams were reversed in the match at Kirk Deighton, however, as an emphatic batting display by the visitors made sure that the hosts were unable to do the double this time around.

Prior to the match, the wicket was described by the 1st XI as a pudding, so it was little surprise when the home side chose to field first having won the toss. Due to a combination of injury and lateness, a less familiar opening pair of Umar Farooq and Rahul Khode opened the Arthington innings and it wasn’t long before the first wicket fell when Farooq offered up a simple chance to the fielder at mid-on.

On his return to the side, Umer Khan came in at three with Arthington’s skipper now on the ground but still unable to take to the middle but only a few overs later the Arthington captain got his chance when Umer Khan was caught behind. Naveed Andrabi’s partnership with Khode began slowly and the pair took the innings to drinks at 23 overs with the score at a modest 66/2. However, with eight wickets still in hand there was going to be opportunity for Arthington’s batsmen to accelerate later.

In the 26th over, Khode only had himself to blame for a run out all of his own making. Having struck the ball into the deep he only jogged the first run with Andrabi seemingly intent on lapping him. Despite dashing back for the second half of what would have been a comfortable two, the remaining opener was short of his ground and had to depart for a patient and well-constructed 31, including 5 fours.

The rest of Arthington’s middle order are not known for their slow play and with the introduction of more aggressive batsmen, Andrabi also seemed to change his mode of operation, though this may also have had something to do with the introduction of Kirk Deighton’s change bowlers who offered more opportunities to score than their opening pair. Anwar Ul Haq certainly didn’t hang about and struck boundaries for his first three scoring shots. Despite only being at the crease for three overs he managed to put on 46 runs with Andrabi before he too was caught behind by the home side’s wicketkeeper and things got worse for the visitors when Naveed Piran was bowled without scoring in the same over to leave the score at 123/5.

That, however, was as good as it got for the hosts as the arrival of Kamrosh Khan to the crease signified the start of a 116-run partnership that scored at over ten runs per over. At this stage, the middle of Andrabi’s bat was getting warm and, after passing fifty with a four, Arthington’s captain became somewhat possessed as only boundaries would do from that point onwards. Incredibly, the 16 scoring shots that Andrabi played having passed his half-century netted him a staggering 81 runs. The two straight boundaries got the brunt of the punishment as the dimensions of the Kirk Deighton ground were not enough to contain Andrabi, or indeed Khan who also began finding the boundary with some big shots of his own.

Inevitably, the gung-ho approach was ultimately to be Andrabi’s downfall, but not before he had reached 132 and his second century of the season. In the over in which he fell, he struck three consecutive sixes before he was caught at long-off attempting a fourth; a truly punishing and dismissive innings by Arthington’s captain, which included 8 fours and 14 sixes was finally ended.

With the score at 240/6 and with just five overs to go, Kirk Deighton may have been forgiven for thinking that that was to be the end of the punishment, but how wrong they would have been. Alex O’Neil, destroyer of many a bowling average arrived at the middle with Khan who had begun to find the middle of the bat himself and in just a five-over period, the pair put on a further 75 runs with every one of the final overs being hit for double figures. Khan reached his fifty and eventually ended up on an unbeaten 62, including 8 fours and 3 sixes and O’Neil had needed very little time to muscle a four and 3 sixes over the boundary for his quickfire and unbeaten 29. Arthington completed their batting innings on 314/6: a mammoth score.

In the second innings, Arthington were delighted when the two Kirk Deighton openers were dismissed cheaply, having been a thorn in their side in the earlier fixture in May when they combined for 104 runs. Naveed Piran made the first breakthrough with an LBW before Umar Farooq unseated the bails for the second dismissal.

Instead, it was the number three and four batsmen who offered the most resistance as they managed 72 runs between them and took the game to 86/2 after 23 overs, ahead of where the visitors had been at the same stage. In the 24th over, however, a great piece of work from wicketkeeper Kamrosh Khan after an inside edge off the bowling of Anwar Ul Haq brought about the third wicket which sparked an almighty collapse by the hosts.

89/2 became 89/6 as Rahul Khode’s third over produced three wickets to end any realistic hopes of Kirk Deighton completing the chase. He was first assisted by Umar Farooq for a catch and then effected a caught and bowled himself with the very next ball to set up a hat-trick opportunity. Though that did not materialise, the third wicket in the over did fall via an LBW and left Khode with very respectable figures of three for four after just three overs at that stage.

Once Ul Haq had taken his own caught and bowled opportunity, the Arthington captain opted for some of his lesser-used bowling options in the form of Martin Dickinson and Malcolm Barraclough. Though the run rate did increase at this point, Arthington were so far in front that they were happy for runs to flow so long as they came with wickets attached and it took only three balls of Barraclough’s first over for the plan to bear fruit with an LBW. Two overs later and the innings was well and truly wrapped up when an eventful 37th over brought about 14 runs and two wickets: Barraclough’s relentless bombardment of the stumps resulted in the bails toppling twice in the over, despite the boundaries also receiving heavy shelling. Kirk Deighton all out for 155.

The 20-point win in combination with an abandonment for Darley means that Arthington now sit second in the division one table with just a game to play. Victory in their final game against West Tanfield will mean that they end their first season in the top division as runners-up, but they will be wary of their opponents who defeated them in the away match at the end of May.

Special thanks to Ken Clayton for scoring the 1st XI match at Kirk Deighton.