A sensational century from South African Ryan Stanbury almost single-handedly consigned Stand to defeat at the hands of local rivals Prestwich last Saturday.
On an unpredictable Hamilton Road wicket, Prestwich were in deep trouble at 18 for 4 when Stanbury strode to the crease.
With a mix of strokeplay and strength, he took the attack to Stand with a mesmeric 121, containing 9 sixes and 10 fours, off 102 balls.
The home side’s opening duo of Matt Curphey and Joe Walmsley (2 for 32) had Prestwich’s top three back in the pavilion with 17 on the board, and when Adnan claimed the wicket of Sam Holden off his first delivery, it was time for Stanbury to make his mark.
He twice cleared the wall-end houses, yet arguably his best shot was a full-bloodied extra cover drive for six.
But without some dogged support, he could have been left high and dry. Prestwich’s David Taylor decamped in a partnership of 70 with Stanbury, despite scoring only 4, while Adam Taylor contributed 3, but in another worthy 66-run partnership.
This allowed the magnificent Stanbury to punish anything wayward, and even the occasional delivery which wasn’t!
He eventually was dismissed by Curphey, one of his five scalps for a hard-working return of 5 for 66.
Prestwich’s next highest scorer was that of Steve Orrell with 12 towards the end of the innings, and Tom Gibson was the only other player to reach double figures, which again put Stanbury’s efforts into perspective.
Stand had manoeuvred themselves into a fair position at 76 for 2, although Alex Bell’s dismissal – beaten by the lack of bounce from Holden for 15 which Prestwich had likewise struggled with – meant it was always going to be an uphill task.
The wickets then started to tumble as Matt Holt fell to a excellent juggling catch by Adam Cheshire on the deep mid wicket boundary for 23, Brett Ernst was snapped up for 24, caught by Holden off Carl Hey at first slip, and Carl Sutcliffe made 21.
Hey’s left arm spin proved hard to work away, and he ended with 4 for 22 as the Stand reply was curtailed at 137, with Holden, finishing with 3 for 32, taking the final wicket of Razzaq.
The five-point victory was turned into a 10-point weekend when Prestwich chalked up a comfortable victory by seven wickets over visitors Flowery Field on Sunday.
But 18-year-old opener Harry Gee had made life uncomfortable for the Heys side with an impressive innings of 90.
The home side reaped the reward of persistence as Flowery proved a tough nut to crack early on. Indeed, the first wicket came via a lightning piece of fielding by Adam Taylor, who swooped and threw the down the stumps in one motion to run out the experienced Mark Dyson for 4, with the total on 36.
The next wicket did not fall until 91, when Tom Scott, in tandem with Hey, began to pick off the Flowery order, and shackle the run rate at the same time.
Scott had already forced Flowery skipper Neil Mistry to play onto his stumps for 13 when he enticed a nick from Gee into the gloves of James Wharmby, and he picked up three more victims to finish with 5 for 50 from a tidy 15-over spell. Hey’s spell of similar duration earned him 2 for 50, one of which was the final wicket off the penultimate ball of the innngs, gratefully pouched at deep mid-on by Holden.
After some erratic displays, Prestwich’s batting armoury got back on track and there were few alarms as they reached the 180-run target with more than 16 overs to spare. Wharmby made 25 while Gibson misjudged a delivery and was bowled for 8 without offering a shot. Holden cracked a typically no-nonsense half century off 46 balls, with Hey reaching his 50 just moments later, finishing undefeated on 52. Holden’s departure for 51 left David Taylor to crack two boundaries for victory.
Prestwich will need to carry on the good work with a tough double header this weekend, as Dukinfield visit The Heys on Saturday, before entertaining Bolton League side Farnworth in the National Knockout Cup on Sunday.
