Sileby set to face Rothley after demolishing Woodhouse in Semi-Final

A ruthless Sileby Town Thursday XI demolished Woodhouse Eaves by 111 runs in the Loughborough Cricket Association Premier League Semi-Final play off at King George V Playing fields.

Luke Gale, Dave Torr and Liam Kinch all smashed half-centuries as the visitors posted a colossal 185-5 from just 14 overs.

After torrential downpour in recent weeks, both sides agreed to play the semi-final at Woodhouse after Sileby Town’s Mill Lane ground had been under water for some time, despite recent scorching temperatures.

With captain Micky Ruddle winning the toss and electing the bat first, Gale had set about his intentions very early on, after crashing the first ball over the boundary for four from the bowling of Stewart.

Ben Cavey’s stay at the crease however, was short lived after he departed for the just four, falling to Cartwright with the score on 25-1 in just the second over.

Gale continued his destruction of the home side’s bowlers, and he was joined by Dave Torr, as their second wicket partnership had elevated the score to 118 in just six overs.

Prior to being bowled, Gale smashed three consecutive sixes behind the bowlers’ head before coming down the track looking for the fourth, and having his bails removed for a rapid 57 from just 29 balls.

Torr soon departed not so long after he reached his half century in just under 40 deliveries falling to A Stovell for 51.

A middle order collapse saw Gethin King and Joe Charity follow Torr back in the hutch with A Stovell bowling King for a second ball duck and Charity ran out by a direct hit for just 3.

Just three overs remained when Kinch and Mo Khan were at the crease and the final remaining overs had given Kinch the license to free hit the bowling attack, sharing a stand of 48 in just 2.3 overs.

Kinch’s 51* from just 21 deliveries had given the away side a highly competitive target for the home side to chase.

And it took just the seventh ball of the first over for seamer Matt Ellis to pick up the wicket of Simpson as he was caught behind for just a single.

Adam Hackett followed Ellis up with a wicket of his own dismissing Greaseley for five.

Woodhouse could never get going with the two seamers bowling very tight lines and A Stovell’s (4) stumps were removed by Hackett as he picked up his second wicket of the evening with the score on 17-3 in the fourth over.

Ellis also enjoyed two wickets on the night as he comprehensively bowled captain Nick Collins for three and at 21-4, it was always going to be a tough target for Woodhouse to get.

Hill and Stephens had slowly began to pick up the pieces as they made a partnership of 28 for the fifth wicket before Hackett ran out Stephens for 18.

Sam Gale’s slow left arm had invited Hill (12) to come down the track only for Joe Charity to pick up a rare stumping.

N Stovell (2) fell to Gale as he was bowled with the score on 53-7.

Ruddle picked up the final three wickets of Evans (20), Stewart (0) and Cartwright (0) all succumbing to the slow-medium pace.

Woodhouse Eaves’ unsuccessful chase has given Sileby the opportunity to face rivals Rothley Park CC in the play-off final, which is due to be played at Rothley this Thursday evening.

Sileby will go in to the final with great confidence after posting a score with such a challenge but Rothley will be another test for the league leaders, as they look to avenge their early season defeat at Mill Lane, last month.

Sileby struggle to seize opportunity as Bank’s claim winning draw.

Leicester Banks came away with a winning draw versus Sileby Town 2nd XI at Banks Road on Saturday, after the away side failed to reach their target of 157 from 56 overs.

Micky Ruddle picked up 4-25 as the visitors made a remarkable recovery dismissing the home side cheaply.

But it was Janak Valland’s 4-19 that had restricted Sileby to 130-9 as they fell 27 runs short of Bank’s total.

Former Leicester Bank’s batsman Mo Khan was appointed captain ahead of the game with Ben Cavey keeping his place in the first team, he elected to field on a fairly green and patchy deck.

Asim Khan, also a former Bank’s player, opened the bowling with Adam Hackett and they both struggled to get their lines right early on as Sandip Sologotra and Valland made a steady start, punishing any bad deliveries that was in their half.

The opening partnership was broken with Jacob Smith, as Sologotra (13) had slapped a full toss straight back at the bowler as Sileby picked up their first wicket with the score on 35-1 in the seventh over.

Rahul Sharma’s huge hitting was well supported by Valland as he continued to rotate the strike, unsettling Sileby’s bowlers.

But it was the introduction of Ruddle who was able to dismiss Valland. Wicket-keeper Sean Dudley’s quick thinking and sharp hands had caught Valland off-guard out of his crease, as he stumped the young right hander for a useful 26, with the score at 90-2 in the 15th over.

Avinesh Patel did not last long as the left-hander picked out Joe Charity at short mid-wicket for a second ball duck.

Sharma was given a lifeline in the same over when he top edged Ruddle to Jacob Smith at long off who was unable to hold on to the ball. But his destructive 66 was ended when he was trapped leg before wicket off the bowling of Ryan Dawson.

Dawson then bowled Vikash Tailor for three and the Bank’s soon found themselves at 113-5 in the 20th over. Sileby’s poor start had made a significant recovery after the loss of Sharma, losing their last 6 wickets for just 47 runs.

Asim Khan returned for his second spell and he instantly made an impact removing Prakash Patel (8) and Ashwin Patel (11) before Ruddle picked up his third dismissing Jaydeep Naik (13).

Khan’s third wicket of the afternoon was the dismissal of Vishal Somaya (1) and Ruddle closed the innings as Bharat Taylor’s loft to long off found Mo Khan as Bank’s were bowled out for 157 in just 32.2 overs, to what will have been a phenomenal batting collapse after their explosive start.

Sileby had 57 overs in total before the clouds began to open up and both sides were able to get one over in before tea.

Umpire Neil Palmer had decided two overs would be lost due to the rain and it was Gareth King and Sean Dudley’s task to ensure there would be a good start to the chase, with the visitors needing to go at only 2.8 runs per over.

Somaya picked up the wickets of Sean Dudley (11) and Charles Kindleysides (8) in the ninth and 13th over respectively with the score at 30-2. King batted patiently as he looked to assist Mo Khan but very slowly, the run rate had started to climb but there never seemed to have been any danger.

King had faced 99 balls for his 27 before Valland had his first of four wickets. Khan then become Valland’s second victim bowling the captain for 18.

At 79-4, Sileby had 22 overs to pick up another 78 runs, but they soon became five down now as Tompkins (2)  fell to the flight and guile of Valland as he went for just two.

Asim Khan looked to resurrect their innings at 93-5, but it was from the bowling of Ashwin Patel that had all members of the playing field in a puzzle when it had looked like Khan’s bails had been removed but there was a question of doubt when Umpire Palmer had failed to see what had happened.

Eventually, Khan (1) was given the finger and with the score at 94-6, Bank’s started to believe they may be able to get something from the game.

Joe Charity had been stranded at the other end as he was witnessing a typical Sileby Town collapse and all of a sudden, Charity and Ruddle had a job on their hands, with the required rate going up to six an over.

Ruddle (2) did not last long either and followed suit to the bowling of Valland for his fourth wicket of the day. Charity (25) fell to Gandhi but it was Dawson and Hackett  who had halted the home side’s charge for victory.

With an over to spare, Palmer declared the game a draw in bizarre scenes. After being put right with lengthy discussions, Palmer restarted the game and both sides were able to bowl the final over as Sileby ended up on 130-8.

Khan and Sileby will be very disappointed they were not ruthless enough to bring home 24 points and so would Bank’s after they had Sileby at eight wickets down.

Weather permitting, Sileby will welcome second placed Hinckley Town to Mill Lane on Saturday and it will be a tough test as Anshuman Bhagawati will look to keep up to the pace with leaders Loughborough Town in Division 2.