Sussex Produce Dominant Display in Defence of Title

Sussex Produce Dominant Display in Defence of Title

On Sunday 7th June Sussex Sharks Visually Impaired XI hosted Lancashire Lions in the beautiful setting of Bede’s Senior School, in Upper Dicker near Hailsham. It was a credit to the ground-staff, that after a week of torrential rain a perfect pitch and great outfield were a fitting backdrop to the Quarter-final of the BCEW Primary Club Heindrich Swanepoel Memorial Cup.

Lancashire won the toss and had no hesitation in asking the Sharks to have a bat. Tight lines and a well martialled field meant that after 5 overs the Sharks were languishing on 5 for no wicket. Mark Bond had gone down with an injury and skipper Dan field promoted himself up the order to steady the ship. He and Dave Daniels (26) first consolidated and then accelerated to build a 113-run partnership for the first wicket before Dave was dismissed. This brought Si Ledwith to the crease, and he and Dan steadily accelerated the scoring rate and at the end of 30 overs the Sharks had compiled a significant 244-1. Si ending 66 not out with 6 x 4s and a 6, Dan finished on an impressive 107 not out, including 7 x 4s and 3 x maximums.

The Lancashire reply got off to a horrible start as a mix up saw Shah Miah horribly run out. At the other end Shazaib Haider was doing his utmost to keep the scoring rate up with a brutal hitting display, his 80 off 53 balls with 3 x 4s and 4 x 6s was the standout innings before he eventually perished to a smart catch behind by Si Ledwith off of the bowling of Deacon Finn who returned 2  wickets for 20 off of his 4 overs. The pick of the Sharks bowlers was Dave Daniels who bowled 6 overs for just 27 runs and bagging 4 wickets. This ensured that no other Lancashire bowler reached double figures and when the final wicket fell Lancashire were all out for 120 in the 20th over.

With a catch, run out, 4 wickets and 26 invaluable runs to anchor the innings Dave Daniels picked up the Player of the Match Award. The full scorecard from the match can be found here. 

Sussex now progress to the Semi-final where they will host London Metro who they defeated off the last ball of last year’s final to lift the Cup. The Lancashire-Sussex rivalry is not done yet as the two teams will face each other again in August in both the National League and the Quarter-final of the T20 competition.

Report courtesy of Ian 'Tiny' Morris (Secretary & T20 Captain)