Monday 22nd May: Heaton Mersey U15 120/6 (20) lost to Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge U15 130/4 (20) by 10 runs – High Peak league (Scorecard)
A tight game at Green Lane against Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge ended in narrow defeat. A quick retirement from their number 4 and a few cameos got Ladybridge to 130, in part aided by some sloppy fielding by Mersey. The pick of our bowlers were Flynn, Harrison and Adelaide.
Ladybridge's fielding in contrast was great and earned them two run outs early on before Sam (15), Harry (22) and Flynn (35 not out) almost got us home. Unfortunately, with victory in sight after Flynn’s retirement, we had two new batsmen at the crease with no time to play themselves in and we fell 10 runs short. On another day, with wiser fielding, we could have made the target lower and much easier to knock off. A game played in great spirit though – well done Mersey.
Thursday 25th May: Brooklands U15 169/4 (20) beat Heaton Mersey U15 129/4 (20) by 40 runs – Cheshire Vitality T20 U15 Club Cup – Round 2 (Scorecard)
We were up against a very strong team at Brooklands. Despite generally good bowling and much improved fielding, Brooklands’ top order raced to 169 off their 20 overs. An excellent catch from Hunain and 2 wickets for James were the highlights.
Then, a swashbuckling start from first Abdul (27), then Hunain (26), and quick contributions from Sam (12) and James (34) got us to a commendable total even though we fell short by 30 runs.
There were lots of great personal performances in there, and a great attitude from everyone means we shouldn't feel too disappointed – especially as Brooklands had hit over 200 runs in their previous game.
Sunday 28th May: Heaton Mersey U15 133/5 (18.5) beat Stockport Georgians U15 132/8 (20) by 5 wickets – Cheshire league (Scorecard)
Another glorious morning for cricket down at Green Lane saw us seal victory over Stockport Georgians with an over to spare.
Our fielding was generally decent although our bowling in the early stages was all pace and little control. As a result, Georgians made hay and 7 overs in it looked like they were heading for 200! However, some good bowling changes from captain Danny took the pace off the ball and we managed to slow the run rate right down. With some tight death bowling by Abubakar they eventually closed on a decent but gettable 132.
Abdul got us off to a flyer with 26 off 19 balls, aided by steady support from Shiyeon, who was eventually run out for 23 but not before partnering Danny to an impressive retirement with 35 off 18. Hunain’s 30 looked like sealing a comfortable victory before a flurry of wickets caused a late wobble. In came Idrees who took two sighters before smacking the winning boundary. Never in doubt.
Sunday 4th June: Mellor U15 199/4(20) lost to Heaton Mersey U15 120/3 (19.3) by 7 wickets – High Peak league (Scorecard)
Victory against Mellor was eventually secured in the final over, in a game that ended up much closer than perhaps it should have.
Mersey were well on top in the early stages as our bowlers dominated with Mellor looking like they would post an easily chaseable target of under a hundred. However, as it emerged that Mellor had saved some of their stronger batsman down the order, a late rally meant we were facing a target of 120.
With a very strong batting line-up, we started our innings in a measured fashion, confident that if we batted out overs we would win. Danny and Shiyeon built a solid platform with 30 and 37 respectively but we were a little slow to press the accelerator and the result was starting to look like it might be in the balance.
Any nerves were settled with a final partnership between Hunain (24) and Sam (7) who upped the strike rate and saw us over the line with 3 balls to spare.
Tuesday 6th June: South West Manchester U15 67 all out (19.2) lost to Heaton Mersey U15 132/4 (20) by 65 runs – High Peak league (Scorecard)
A top performance from Heaton Mersey playing at SWMCC, with everyone contributing with either wickets, superb fielding or runs. Player of the match was Hunain with 35 not out and 2 big wickets. There’s also special mention to Jess coming back from injury who took a wicket with the first ball of the innings which was also her first ball of the season and Ryan who also retired not out.
