VI Sharks Seize Initiative in Title Race & Seal T20 Finals Day Place

VI Sharks Seize Initiative in Title Race & Seal T20 Finals Day Place

Saturday 8th August saw the top two teams face each other in the BCEW National League Division 1 at the Blackstone Academy Ground.

With Lancashire 4 points clear of Sussex it was a pivotal game with both sides having just one more outing to close the season after this match.

Arslan Sabir won the toss and had no hesitation in asking the Sharks to have a bat on a bone-dry pitch. It was soon evident that this had been a mistake as a record opening stand was compiled before Callum Weir (64) was trapped in front with the score on 212 with the Sharks scoring at 9 runs per over, Dave Daniels added an unbeaten 22 at better than a run a ball but the innings belonged to Si Ledwith whose magnificent 156 not out came off 108 balls and included 29 x 4s, powering the Sharks to declare at 30 overs on 293-1. A nod to Lancashire’s Shahzaib Haider who bowled 9 overs and took the only wicket for 56 runs, a respectable return whilst his fellow bowlers were put to the sword.

The Lancashire reply could not have got off to a worse start, losing wickets off the 1st, 3rd and 4th ball they ended the first over on 1-3 and were lucky to see a chance go down off the final ball of the over. What looked like an easy win was stalled as the Lions middle order showed dogged resistance to try and dig in for the draw. An insane run out then opened the door in the 23rd over and eventually Lancashire were all out for 98. The last wicket was taken by Phil Daniels who had done all the damage at the top, his 6 wickets for 29 runs from 8.4 overs were the second-best figures ever by a Shark and this saw the Sharks pull clear at the top of the table.

Lancashire are not out of the title race; they will need to beat Northants next week but will have to hope that Metro can convincingly beat the Sharks. Sussex go into the game knowing that a win will give them the title and even a draw will probably be enough for them to retain their league crown.

Match 2

The following day (Sunday 9th August) Sussex VI Sharks hosted the Lancashire Lions at the Blackstone Academy ground for a place at finals day in the David Townley Memorial T20 Cup. Sussex T20 Skipper Ian ‘Tiny’ Morris lost the toss, and the Sharks were asked to bat.

Fresh from his massive 156 not out the day before Si Ledwith showed he was still hungry for runs and dominated the Lions attack again as he compiled 105 not out from just 70 balls, whilst others chipped in with cameos the mantra was “get Si back on strike”. Si once again carried his bat and led the Sharks to an imposing total of 197-6 from their 20 overs. Tahseen Sabir’s figures of 2-20 from 4 overs stood out for the Lions bowlers who had another tough day in the sun.

In reply, the Sharks attack was on the money from ball one, taking early wickets to reduce the Lions to 37-4 at the 10 over drinks break. With nothing to lose Zahid Mahmood (33 not out) and skipper Arslan Sabir (29) gave it a good go but with the rate climbing Lancashire were never really in the hunt and finished on 114-7 at the end of their 20 overs. The Sharks bowled as a unit with Phil Daniels 2-20, Joe Harrison and Dave Daniels 1-15 each, ensuring the Lions were never up with the run-rate.

The David Townley T20 Cup - Finals Day will take place on the Saturday 19th September at Wolverhampton CC with the Sharks being joined by Kent, London Metro and Cheshire.

Full scorecards can be found here: Match 1 & Match 2

Match reports courtesy of Ian ‘Tiny’ Morris