Knypersley bounced back from their home defeat on the opening day of the season with a memorable run chase to defeat Eccleshall by eight wickets in a high scoring encounter that was interrupted by rain showers.
Having been put into bat, Eccleshall were able to post an impressive 259/7 when their rain-reduced innings of 44 overs was brought to a close.
An opening stand of 153 between Myles Coughlan (79) and Ashan Tariq (73) was the foundation of the home side’s tally while for Knypersley Arsalan Mir claimed three for 55 and Asad Afridi four for 58, while skipper Liam Hopkins produced an impressive opening spell of nine overs for just 13 runs.
Eventually, following further rain breaks, Knypersley’s target for victory was set 206 off 38 overs and this they reached with nine balls to spare.
As in the home side’s innings, an impressive opening partnership was to provide a strong foundation with the pair of Louis Washington and Sam Wilcox compiling 118 before the stand was broken. Wilcox struck eight boundaries in his 52 while Washington hit seven boundaries and one six in his 75.
The scene was therefore set for Arsalan Mir to hammer an unbeaten 63 from just 33 balls as in conjunction with Asad Afridi (8no) he saw Knypersley over the finishing line to earn his team the maximum 18 points under the new points format.
2nd XI
At Knypersley, the second team put up a good show against Woore’s 1st XI before going down to a five wicket defeat after winning their opening game.
Batting first Knypersley reached 152/7 from their permitted 40 overs. Robbie Whilding found the boundary seven times and cleared the ropes twice in his 52 while Andy Jones contributed 32 and for the visitors Max Waller claimed 4/21.
A partnership of 83 for the third wicket between Matt Kenvyn (49) and Tom Saji (38) proved decisive as Woore reached their target for the loss of five wickets.
Youngsters Jacob Cumberbatch, Jack Muni and Lewis Townsend all claimed a wicket for the home team with skipper Darren Washington picking up the other two.
Fixtures
On Saturday, the 1st XI are at home to Little Stoke (12.30pm) with spectators welcome to attend and enjoy the club’s hospitality while complying with the current covid regulations.
The 2nd team are on their travels, to play Blythe, with the Stone League team playing Porthill Park away on Sunday.
