Stayley through after last-ball win

Stayley CC made it through to the quarter-finals of the Voneus Village Cup in dramatic fashion on Sunday, defeating opponents Cleator by a single run. 

Teenage bowler Leighton Parker was the hero, holding his nerve to ensure they overcame the hosts after a low-scoring thriller. 

Captain Nick Woodhead lost the toss, and his side were put in to bat on what looked a very green and soft wicket.  

The wicket proved to be tricky with the visitors falling to 36 for 4 in the 15th over.  

Skipper Woodhead made his way to the crease looking to steady the ship, and he and Jake Barlow did just that putting on a 41-run partnership before the latter was dismissed for 10 runs from 70 balls.  

Two balls later and Woodhead himself was making his return to the changing rooms after an impressive caught and bowled by Cleator spinner David Watson.  

At 81 for 6 Stayley were up against it, on a wicket that looked like 120 would’ve been a good score, the last 10 overs were crucial.  

Wickets continued to fall, and it proved to be incredibly hard for new batters to come in and score from the off.  

The away side slumped to 100 all out with Woodhead topping the scoring with 33 from 49 balls and returning opening bowler David Blackwell, picking up the final wicket in the 38th over.  

Stayley would now need to defend the target of 101 runs from 40 overs if they were to progress to the quarter-finals. 

They got off to the perfect start in their defensive, Mehmood Ul-Hassan bowling opening batsmen Ben Wishart for a duck with a ball that stayed low.  

Stayley knew they’d have to take wickets in clusters if they were to stand a chance of defending their small total and Mehmood did just that.  

He bowled an impressive eight overs taking four wickets whilst only conceding four runs, leaving Cleator CC 27 for 4.  

At the halfway point the game was firmly poised, Cleator 43-4 just behind the run rate but with plenty of wickets in hand. 

A wicket two balls after the drinks break added more nerves into the Cleator batting lineup, Woodhead trapping visiting wicket keeper Ben Lloyd in front of all three. 

The game then swung back towards the home side with number five batsman James Rogers and captain Douglas Hughes putting on 20 runs together before 18-year-old Leighton Parker struck twice in one over to leave Cleator needing 33 runs from the final 10 overs with only three wickets remaining.  

Rogers however had other ideas and with the help of Adam Meagan at the other end they needed just 17 from six overs.  

The 35th over didn’t start off great for Stayley as Roche went for seven runs from just four balls, but a mix-up in the middle left Meagan stranded and Parker completed the run out leaving Cleator 91-8 after 34.4 overs. 

The Cumbria based side were still strong favourites, but another quick wicket made the 10 runs required very nervy for the hosts.  

The next four overs bowled by Stayley were extremely tight conceding just six runs from them.  

This left the home side requiring four runs from the last over with just two wickets remaining, James Rogers (37*) at the non-strikers end eager to get down the other end.  

Teenage star Parker had the ball in hand ready to start his seventh and final over of the game.  

The first two balls were dots, the third a nip backer that removed Ethan Messengers off stump, with Cleator’s final batter Jamie Martin making his way the crease requiring four runs from three balls.  

The next two balls resulted in a single for each batsman, and a brilliant game of cricket would all come down to one ball.  

Hosts Cleator needed two runs to win but knew that one would be enough as a tied game would have seen them advance on account of fewer wickets lost. 

Stayley, needing a dot ball or wicket, had fielders surrounding the bat of Martin.  

Parker hung the ball outside off, Martin swung and missed the ball hitting keeper Sohail Khan’s gloves, he threw the ball to the bowlers end where Woodhead collected and removed the bails to complete the run out and seal an incredible turnaround where Stayley looked dead and buried. 

Stayley now advance to the last eight of the competition and will host either Woodhouses or Thornton on July 20. 

Their game takes place this Sunday (July 13) after rain interfered the week prior.