Week 5 Report: Garner signs off in style as 2s progress in cup

Club Chairman Gary Garner closed the curtain on a 42 year senior career with a match winning knock at Elton as the 2^nd XI put their league struggles behind them to progress to the 2^nd round of the 2^nd XI Premier Cup on Sunday.

Elton, batting first, looked set to set a challenging total at 92-2 with 20 overs to go. Matt Metcalfe (9-1-24-1) and Mohammed Usman (9-1-21-3) tied up the middle order, before Garner claimed the 7^th wicket in his and the final over, Elton finishing on 164-7.

The Bury response didn’t get off to the best of starts, the top three all dismissed early on at 13-3. Garner and James Weston (42) came together for a 4^th wicket partnership worth 108, before the latter was given lbw to swing the momentum and firmly put Bury in control. Sabat Ali Ahmed (21*) stayed with the chairman, who remained unbeaten on 62*, until the end as Bury ultimately coasted home by 6 wickets with 11.2 overs remaining. (Scorecard)

Sunday’s win followed a league defeat at Heywood on Saturday. Raheel Kayani top scored with 48, in a second wicket partnership of 86 with Joe Mitchell (27), however the innings lost momentum in the last 15 overs, with 142-6 being posted from 45 overs, a total Heywood chased for the loss of 7 wickets with 2 overs to spare, despite being set back to 5-3 early on. Benjamin McCulloch’s excellent knock of 70* led the way for the home side, although there were 3 wickets apiece for Mohammed Majid and Zarqash Ali. (Scorecard)

The 1^st XI also fell to a disappointing defeat following a batting collapse at home to Saddleworth. Bowling first, Bury were well on top – a first Bury 5-wicket haul for Kershaski Jno Lewis (15-6-24-5) and early wickets for Mukhtar Nasir (15-2-40-3) had Saddleworth in trouble at 53-8. A resistant 9^th wicket partnership pushed Saddleworth towards three figures, which they eventually reached, bowled out for 106. However Bury found themselves in a similar position – slipping to 22-6 and 46-7. Captain Dom Morris was the only one to reach double figures, and threatened to single-handily chase the total, but he was caught on 47 – Bury bowled out for 83 to see the points go to the away side. (Scorecard)