northwichcc

Mere - 162/9 (45 overs)
Northwich - 166/8 (17.5 overs)
Points - Northwich (25), Mere (12)

Northwich produced a remarkable performance to claim a 25 point victory on the final day of the season. Mere were the visitors to Moss Farm - when they eventually arrived! When the toss was made at 12.20pm, they only had 4 players at the ground! So they had no option but to bat 1st after winning the coin flip!! Northwich were under strength yet again with a very inexperienced side and veteran Simon James forced into keeping wicket with Andrew Pickstock struggling with injury. They were rocked even further when news leaked out early that it would be Mark O'Neils' last game in charge. The inspirational O'Neil has guided Northwich to several trophies in the past few seasons and led his team to Twenty20 cup final victory again just 3 weeks ago. Given the circumstances, you'd have thought Northwich were an easy target for the visitors - but O'Neil certainly inspired his troops for the final game of his tenure.
With only 3 front-line bowlers available, O'Neil opened the bowling himself alongside Mike Whitehead. Northwich were in control from the start as Mere struggled to penetrate the Northwich in-field. Andy Gibbon setting the standard in the field with some fantastic diving stops. The visitors were stunned and O'Neil took full advantage with an outstanding 7 maiden overs on the bounce to start his spell. Whitehead was also keeping things tight at the other end as Mere limped to 28/0 after 14 overs. The introduction of vice-captain Pete Gibbon brought the 1st wicket of the day. Gibbon using his 'wrong-one' to devasting effect to clean bowl the Mere opener with the score on 45. The pressure was telling as Mere lost their 2nd wicket courtesy of a run-out in the 23rd over. O'Neil and Gibbon combining well to ensure the latter had plenty of time to dislodge the bails. 61/2 soon became 61/3 as O'Neil claimed his 1st wicket of the day with a swinging delivery that knocked the off-stump backwards - just! O'Neil then took the vital wicket of Mere all-rouner Cunningham with a rare LBW decision going in his favour. The visitors now looked in real trouble at 78/4 but the tie swung in their favour as the drizzle began to get heavier at Moss Farm. Mere were taking the aerial route and finally passed the 100 mark in the 33rd over.
Gibbon was clearly struggling to grip the ball and he went for a succession of boundaries before Whitehead came back on to replace him.
Whitehead had an immediate impact with a wicket in his returning over! Another slog shot was played - but this time it went straight to Glinoj Cherian on the 'cow-corner' boundary. He snaffled a great catch to give Whitehead his 1st wicket of the day. Runs continued to flow as the home side tried hard to keep the ball dry for the bowlers. Whitehead then took his 2nd wicket with a comical slower ball to reduce Mere to 129/6. With wickets in hand, Mere continued to swipe at every ball and their luck was clearly in! By the 44th over, they pushed the score onto 157 before O'Neil picked up two wickets in as many balls! Matty Clarke and Pete Gibbon taking the catches to leave O'Neil with figures of 4-50 after bowling 22 overs unchanged from the football pitch end. Whitehead completed the final over and a run-out from wicket-keeper James ensured that the visitors completed their innings on 162/9.

Bowling figures. O'Neil 4-50 from 22 overs, Whitehead 2-59 from 15 overs, Gibbon 1-40 from 8 overs.

Given the weather conditions - the Mere total looked formidable for the frail NCC batting line-up. O'Neil asked the experienced pair of Pete Gibbon and Pickstock to open the batting. Gibbon has been a revelation at opener in recent weeks and yet again he proved to be the perfect foil for the more aggressive Pickstock. The pair dominated the opening bowlers to such an extent that they were both removed from the attack within 10 overs. They were scoring at 5 runs per over - an amazing rate given the conditions. Pickstock slammed two huge sixes towards the primary school and subsequently advised his partner that there were no fielders in the Sky! But when Gibbon attempted to launch one over the pavilion - the partnership ended after a leading edge saw him caught at long on. He made 31 in an excellent opening stand of 72. This brought young starlet Cherian to the crease and he took no time at all in continuing the NCC dominance. He smashed 18 from 24 balls to push the score past the 100 mark before being caught out.
Pickstock missed out on a deserved half-century when he fell for an excellent 48 with the score on 121. With the loss of Pickstock, Mere sensed victory in the increasingly gloomy conditions. And when McDonough (13) and Andy Gibbon (0) fell in quick succession, Northwich found themselves on a worrying 132/5. They still required 31 runs for an unlikely victory but had 12 year old James Gittings and 15 year old James Power at the crease. Mere brought the field in closer and began to pressure the youngsters even further. But in a magnificent stand of 18 runs they both pierced the infield on several occasions. However both fell with the score on 150. Gittings for a superb 12 and Power for a valuable 5 runs. Mere were jubilant but were unaware that Simon James was next man in. The veteran batsman capped a great wicket-keeping display by leading the 'tail-end' an amazing victory. Although Clarke fell for 1, No.10 batsman Whitehead (0*) managed to repel the visitors attack while James smashed a few boundaries to end unbeaten on 14. Two consecutive boundaries won the game and gave an emotional O'Neil victory in his farewell game as captain.

Departing captain Mark O'Neil commented 'Today was one of the best results of my tenure as captain. The lads have given me a send-off to remember'.

Under the guidance of O'Neil - Northwich finished the season in 3rd place and claimed the T20 cup - another excellent season!

Northwich line-up:
P Gibbon, A Pickstock, G Cherian, M McDonough, J Gittings, A Gibbon, J Power, M Clarke, S James (wk), M Whitehead, M O'Neil (c)