LEIGH Seconds entertained Wigan in a match which was very important for both sides.
Both teams, precariously placed at the lower end of the league table, needed victory and maximum points.
Leigh won the toss and after some consideration put Wigan in to bat. Dave Potter and Adaam Roussak opened the bowling but it wasn't until the tenth over that Roussak took out the middle stump of Ford to open the Leigh account.
Wigan had started steadily and continued to add to their score and it wasn't until Billy Banner, who was introduced to the attack, and Dave Potter reverted to bowling off spin that runs became hard to come by for the Wigan batsmen.
Leigh began to take control of the game as Banner started to pick up wickets. His excellent spell of 19 overs brought 7 wickets for just 33 runs and had the Wigan batsmen tied down. Alex Roussak took over from Potter and picked up the wicket of Cullen leaving Wigan on 148 for 9. There followed a frustrating last wicket partnership of 33 until Banner finally trapped the last man lbw leaving Leigh a target of 174 for victory.
The Leigh reply got underway with Alex Roussak and Pete Taylor opening the batting but this was a short lived partnership as Roussak was caught with the total on 9. Captain Steve Whalley was next in but he went without scoring after a good delivery took out his off stump. Taylor was next to go after missing a full toss leaving him l.b.w. and the score on 25 for 3.
It was not the start that Leigh had hoped for but Patrick Travers and Ishtiaq Beg put on a partnership of 35 before Travers was finally caught. The next partnership between Beg and Dave Potter was crucial. They put on a further 30 and began to take control until Beg was bowled when the score was 90. There followed a passage of play which began to take the initiative away from the Leigh team as Banner Junior and Umesh Patel lost their wickets with just one more run being added to the total.
Banner Senior joined Potter for a steadying partnership of 31 until Banner lost his off stump to another excellent Cullen delivery. With the score on 122 and a further 52 runs still needed for victory the task became increasingly difficult for Leigh but as Dave Potter and his son Andrew got together and started blazing the ball to the boundary a positive result for Leigh began to look possible. Potter senior hit 4 sixes and 4 fours but it was Potter junior who hit the shot of the match dispatching the Wigan quickie to the boundary with a superbly timed pulled six.
As the overs began to run out and the tension started to increase the watching crowd became more vocal in the support of the home team adding to the overall excitement of the situation. With just two balls of the innings left and the scores tied on 173 Andrew Potter pushed the ball towards mid off where the fielder dove to stop the ball but missed it allowing the batsmen to cross for the winning run.
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