Winning Start For Town C.C.

Syston Town C.C. made an excellent start to the new season by winning their first two games before going down by the smallest of margins in their third. At home against Electricity Sports, Syston racked up 268-4 with Australian visitor Liam O’Farrell (shown pictured) hitting an impressive 83 on his debut and skipper Ram Ghuman 81 not out. On an excellent track, Electricity Sports were limited to 241-6 for a comfortable victory. A visit to play Houghton and Thurnby followed and Syston set a target of 236-6 thanks largely to Mo Salejee with 51 and Charlie Taylor 68 not out. Opening pair Umar Razzaq (3-31) and George Corbett (2-36) broke the back of home innings and they finished well short on 202-9. On their visit to play Ashby Hastings, Syston were asked to bat first and were wobbling on 80-6 before Charlie Taylor (43) and the lower order restored some respectability to Syston’s final total of 184. They made Ashby fight all the way, reducing them to 128-5, before they got home to win off the very last ball.
A youthful second XI have had a difficult start to the season with three successive defeats. Maher Stars set a challenging 271 and at one stage Syston were on track with Mo Salejee making 56 and Asad Pathan 63. However once they were dismissed the innings folded for a disappointing 191. Batting first against Langtons 2nd XI, Syston set a modest 149 with Chirag Modi making 49 and veteran Paddy Oakman a patient 23. Joe Storer (3-42) bowled a fiery opening spell reducing Langtons to 58-5 but they could only manage one more wicket before Langtons got home. Put in to bat against Bharat Sports, Syston slumped to 65-7 before a fifty partnership between Dharmist Bathia (28) and Joe Storer (30 not out) gave the final score of 151 some respectability. Bharat had no problems though in knocking off the runs for victory by nine wickets
The Sunday XI got off to a sparkling start making 343 against Ashby Carington. Asad Pathan (97) just missed out on a century and he was well supported by Bhanu Prakash with 77. Ashby made 184 in reply with Dave Tebbutt (5-44) doing most of the damage. The Burrough League team also made a winning start to the season. They were set a target of 137 by Burghley Park and they chased down the runs with a ball to spare thanks to Mo. Salejee (65) and Bhanu Prakash (53).
Roger Pole