Cricket report

It was another great game for Audlem, as they travelled to Little Stoke for the first game in September.

The day didn't go to plan at the toss, as Little Stoke captain Simms won the toss and elected to field. This meant Audlem's captain, Shenton and fellow opener Reddy strode to the crease. Sadly it wasn't the fast start Audlem hoped for as they fell to 23-2 inside the first 6 overs.

However, a great knock from Audlem s number three, Shaik 37 of 65, brought some calm to the team. The whole team chipped in with cameos, including some gorgeous shots from Hardy for his 18, and a nicely controlled 14 from newly promoted Swift at number 5.
It was the experience of Parkinson with a beautifully constructed 40 of just 34 balls to propel the team up to 164-8 once he fell. It looked to be a worrying situation, as the current total looked slightly below par on a nice wicket and fast outfield. It was the explosiveness of Rahul again, who blasted 35 of 32 while batting with the tail to help Audlem finish on 193 all out of 39.1 overs.

The pick of the bowlers for Little Stoke were Sayer with 4-36 of his 8, and Hussain with 3-25 of 7.1 overs. Little Stoke needed 194 to win, but with the quality of Audlem s bowling attack, it was going to be a tough ask.

It was a tight start for Audlem, as Rahul picked up an early wicket halting Little Stoke to just 32-1 off their first 10 overs. This brought Swift and Parkinson into the attack, who further slowed down the runs. Swift picked up his first of the day thanks to a diving catch at short midwicket from Topping. This left Little Stoke 66-2 at the half way stage, requiring 128 runs in 20 overs. The Audlem team knew not to get complacent however, as Little Stoke opener Saleem was 41* and could take the game away. After the drinks break saw the introduction of Hardy and Topping, who while expensive in their 7 overs, going for 51 runs, they also picked up 3 wickets together, including Hardy getting the big wicket of Saleem on 51, thanks to a great catch by Rahul on the boundary. Hardy finished the day 2-30. Parkinson returned to the attack, and in just 3 balls picked up his first wicket, while Swift returned from the other end picking up 2 more wickets to finish on 3-37 of his 8. From that situation, Little Stoke s innings swindled despite a counter attacking knock from Ahmed, 28 of 21, as Jayan picked up a wicket and executed a calm, collected run out.

Little Stoke finished on 160 of 33.2 overs. It was another cracking game with just 30 runs between the two sides. The game was played in great spirits, and Audlem stay 30 points top of the league with just two games remaining.

Audlem play Church Eaton at home on Saturday in the penultimate fixture, which is sure to be a great game.