Report: 2s win league thriller before progressing in the cup

It was a double weekend of action for the 2nd XI, and it provided two wins and plenty of drama.

On Saturday, after the game was reduced to 30 overs due to a wet ground, the hosts Swinton Moorside batted first and put together 141/5, with the wickets shared between Mohammed Majid (1/33), Ghalib Sarosh (2/33) and Patrick Potts (2/51), which included 2 catches and a stumping from Leighton Santos. In response, Joe Mitchell (22) and Zafri Zafardeen (27) laid the foundations for acceleration later in the innings with 48 for the first wicket. Syed Hashmi's quickfire 25 kept Bury up with the rate but a flurry of wickets gave Swinton Moorside confidence going into the last over, with 11 needed with just 2 wickets remaining. A tight start from Bancroft left the equation at 10 needed from 4, before Zarqash Ali hit back to back boundaries, and the scores were level with one ball to come. Ghalib Sarosh (27*) hit the final delivery to the boundary to complete the run chase and maintain the unbeaten league start. (Scorecard)

On Sunday, it was a trip to Werneth for the 1st Round of the 2nd XI Premier Cup. Bury batted first but Werneth were well on top after the powerplay, with Bury at 16-3 after 10 overs. Nathan Ramsay (47), Joe Spencer (27) and Usama Akram (19) rebuilt the innings well before what proved to be a crucial last wicket partnership worth 27 between Muhammad Bilal (16*) and Harry Williamson saw Bury reach 159 before being bowled out in the final over of the innings.

Werneth never looked to be on track in their innings, slipping to 70/8 after 25 overs with wickets shared around, however, number 7 Basharat Khan took the game to the Bury bowlers scoring a quickfire 50*. His knock pushed Werneth to 116/8 with 12 overs to go but the rain came in and forced play to be halted. It would not relent and Bury progressed to the second round of the cup with Werneth behind on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Par Score. (Scorecard)

Back on Saturday, the 1st XI travelled to Glossop for their league clash. Glossop batted first and Leciestershire batsman Harry Dearden took the game to Bury, scoring 97 from just 63 balls. Oliver Kenyon (62) and overseas Ruman Ahmed (46) were also in the runs, and Glossop scored 269/9 from their 46 overs. Ahmed Matloob was in the wickets in his second spell, finishing with 4/33 from 8 overs. Ben Gorton (43) started well with the bat but regular wickets thwarted Bury's chances of an unlikely run chase, and Dearden took 4/35 on the way to bowling out Bury for 124. (Scorecard)

On Sunday, an inexperienced 3rd XI hosted Glodwick at Radcliffe Road. Glodwick opted to bat first on a damp wicket and Bury's young bowling attack performed well to restrict them to 151/5 from their 36 overs, with 2 wickets for Marcus Eaton and one each for Mohammed Shah and Will Moore. The rain came in during the tea interval which meant no further play was possible, and both teams took 2 points. (Scorecard)

This week, the Bullsharks hope to get their T20 campaign underway following last week's washout, with an away game against the Woodbank Wildboyz on Friday. On Saturday, the 1st XI take on league leaders Denton West at Radcliffe Road, with an earlier 12pm start due to the Champions League final. The 2nd XI are back at Unsworth to play Worsley 2nd XI (1:30pm start), and the 3rd XI begin their cup defence on Sunday at South West Manchester (1pm start).

Gallery:

(Main photo: Glossop 1st XI v Bury 1st XI)

Swinton Moorside 2nd XI v 2nd XI (Pictures @burycc Instagram)

Werneth 2nd XI v 2nd XI (Picture @burycc Instagram)