SOUTH West Manchester showed how much they love the sun as they pulled off a great victory at Manchester Association Premier Division champions Hindley St Peters.
The hosts made good use of a small, fast outfield as they galloped to 246-7 with the top bowling coming from Najeeb Ahmad (3-63), Khalid Mahmood (2-81) and Raj Sivakumar (1-42).
South West’s Khalid Mahmood got his side off to a flying start in reply, hitting a rapid 55 during a reply anchored by Ali Khan (89 not out).
He was given good support from Wali Mahmood (20) and Dasgupta (24) before Raj Sivakumar took South West over the finishing line with an unbeaten 19 off 10 balls to see them home with two overs in hand.
However, the seconds’ lack of batting depth was exposed as they chased a modest West Leigh target of 139 after Ian Larkins (2-41), Zaq Haq (2-40), Steve Giles (3-31) and Steve Madden (2-11) had done the damage with the ball.
Madden and Giles then showed their all-round ability, hitting 32 and 36 respectively to give their side a great chance of victory.
Once they had been dismissed though, the tail folded meekily to leave South West all out for a mediocre 98.
Whalley Range were left shaking their heads after throwing away a chance of success against Bury.
Batting first, Range made 170 which was mainly comprised around the efforts of Viraj Kutty (42), Paul Griffiths (42) and Paul Davies (31).
That looked to be a safe total when Range reduced Bury to 18-5 and then 59-7 as Waqas Malik (3-43) and Saleem Khan (4-40) did the damage.
Nevertheless, Bury showed the depth of their batting as professional Stan Gavender (58 not out) set about repairing the damage.
He added 67 with Zak Gowland (25 not out) which secured Bury an unlikely win as they ended on 171-8.
Range’s seconds enjoyed their batting at Bolton lashing 294-3 in 49 overs, Habeeb Hassan making 93 and Fazan Ahmad an unbeaten 62.
In the end, the wicket proved the winner as Bolton held on at 168-9 with Mark Leeny (4-28), John Sheehan (2-31) and Mark Greenwood (2-46) the pick of the attack.
Division one matches saw Wythenshawe’s hopes of a quick return to the top flight boosted by an easy win at West Leigh.
Aaron McCall took 5-50 as the hosts were limited to 206-8 before joining Paul Burrell for a matchwinning stand after Wythenshawe had lost two early wickets in reply.
Burrell stroked his way to a majestic 108 not out, while McCall completed a great day with an unbeaten 66 to take his side to 207-2 with plenty of overs still in hand.
Wythenshawe’s seconds shared the spoils in a close game with Hindley St Peters at Longley Lane.
Some consistent batting from Adam Ward (35), Craig McCoy (53), Colin Pierce (23) and Ian Hilton (23 not out) took Wythenshawe to 173-9.
Hindley were always in with a shout of victory as they paced their reply well.
Young spinner Martin Leonard put in a marathon stint though and finished with 4-65.
Another young bowler, Lewis Crowther, offered good support with 2-17 as Hindley were held to 159-8.
