From Moore & Smalley Palace Shield Web site
Palace Shield winners |
On a sunny day at BAC/EE Preston CC, The Palace Shield defeated the Ribblesdale League to claim the Guild Twenty20 Trophy.
In the first game of the day, the Lancashire League faced the Ribblesdale League. Winning the toss and electing to bat, the LL found themselves at 39-5, following impressive bowling from Ben Dowling (Great Harwood) and Imran Adbid(Edenfield). The LL recovered to 112-8 from their allocated 20 overs thanks to 57no from Neil Thompson (Nelson)
In Reply despite losing Aneew Hassan early, a 100 run partnership between Mohammed Jamal of Read (67*) and Padiham's Chris Holt (37*) saw the RL make the final with 4 overs to spare.
Scorecard
By 1pm, the crowd had grown in anticipation of the Palace Shield vs Northern League clash.
The Northern League won the toss and allowed the Palace Shield to have a bat. Mike Walling (Garstang) and Ian Dunn (Vernon Carus) openened the batting, against the Lancaster duo of Ben Simm and Liam Moffat. It took the introduction of Lukman Vahluwala (Preston) to break the partnership, as he bowled Dunn for 4 with the score on 30. This brought Mohammed Nadeem (Great Eccleston) to the crease, who rotated the strike as Walling dispatched the ball to the boundary. Chorley's Will Moulton combined with Fleetwood's Naveed Yousuf to remove Micheal Walling for 48, with the PS on 85-2. Rick Turner of Fulwood made a quick two before he was removed by Danny Lamb (Leyland). Noddy was joined by Christian Ash (Vernons) as the score continued to grow. When Nadeem was run out by Yousuf for 41, The PS were on 123-4 however Ashy kicked on taking 16 off the final over to let the PS finish on 145-5. Northern League Pro Lukhman Vahluwala was the star with the ball finishing 4-0-16-2.
In reply the Northern League could not have got off to a worse start as Unicorns and Leyland batsman Luis Reece was caught at slip by Ash off the bowling of Ian Simpson (Longridge) off the first ball. Captain Adam Parker (Fleetwood) could only look on as Ashit Jariwala (Penwortham) dismissed Ikram Allah (Morecambe) and Moulton in the second over. Vahluwala joined Parker who set up rebuilding the innings. With the run rate passing 10 an over, Dunny introduced Off-Spinner Mike Walling and left arm seamer Danny Howard (Thornton Cleveleys) into the attack, and within minuites both had struck, Vahluwala caught by Turner off Walling before Parker was bowled by Howard for a well made 25. "Big Dan" then bowled Jamie Heywood (Lancaster), Naveed Yousuf, before an excellent piece of Keeping from Alex Unsworth (Penwortham) saw Moffat stumped off Howard to close the innings on 91.
Scorecard
After a break for tea, and the teams meeting the VIPs including the mayor and Jimmy Armfield, it was time for the final.
The Ribblesdale League won the toss and elected to bat.
After two tight overs, Ian Simpson (Longridge) found himself on a Hat-Trick dismissing Aneew Hassan (Settle) and Liam Bedford (Barnoldswick), before Oliver Parkinson ran out Mohammed Jamal for just 7. When Ashit Jariwala trapped professional Chris Holt (Padiham) LBW to leave the RL on 25-4, it meant that Joe Marsh (Read) had to dig in. The PS Bowlers had other ideas as Ian Dunn changed his bowlers regulary, all responding and bowling well. Wickets continued to fall, and only Marsh who scored 27 from 46 (No Boundries) was able to cope with the PS Attack, finishing their 20 overs on 73-9.
Walling and Dunn once again opened the batting, and eased the score along, before Dunn was trapped on the front foot LBW for 6 with the score on 44. This wicket gave the RL some life, as captain Ian Britcliffe (Ribblesdale Wanderers) picked up another wicket as he bowled Walling for 29 in the same over. The following over Great Eccleston's Olly Parkinson was bowled by Imran Abid (Edenfield) at 45-3. Fulwood's Richard Turner and Mohmamed Nadeem took the Shield to a level score before Abid bowled Nadeem, leaving Christian Ash to drive a four through cover, to win the game and the trophy for the Palace Shield.
Scorecard
Many thanks to the 4 umpires and 4 scorers, aswell as all the volunteers of BAC/EE Preston CC who made the day a success.
The Palace Shield will now be guild champions until 2032
