Pitch Report – It’s always hard to predict how a pitch will behave with temperatures varying between 12 to 16 degrees Celsius, intermittent overcast conditions and swift breeze. But it was clear that the pitch was flat and hard. The plan was to control the controllable - good line and length.

Team Report

Irby 2s XI - After their crushing 9 wickets defeat at the hands of Ashley, Irby were keen to put their best foot forward and made 7 changes to the squad. For stats purpose, these 7 new players have played a total of 850+ league games, scored 6000+ runs and taken 620+ wickets; special mention to Gareth Jones (2600 runs), Matthew Gillespie (2600 runs, 367 wickets) and Jay (1800 runs).

Barrow 2s XI – thumped Tettenhall at their home by 125 runs and were confident coming into the game. Barrow also made 7 changes to their squad bringing in Julian Shaw, Graham S, George Bryant Subhash B, Tate Beaumont, Tom W and Rob Munro in place of Alex Shaw, Greg R, Steve Jackson, Max S, Mike L, James P and Phil Noble.

Irby Innings

Irby lost two quick wickets within the first 6 overs with Alex Hawksby rewarded for his stump-to-stump full length bowling. In both instances, Hawkeye hit the off and middle stumps. Irby, however, maintained a brisk 4.50 runrate in the first 8 overs. Prashant Pandey and Tom Whitworth were brought in as 1st and 2nd bowling change but went wicketless in their first spells. Subhash B and Graham S were brought in as 3rd and 4th change. Barrow had to wait another 30 overs for their next wicket as the Father-Son duo, Charlie and Gareth Jones put up 111 run partnership including 15 attractive boundaries. Irby lost 2 wickets in quick succession when Prashant, coming in for his second spell, caught outside edges of Charlie (the opening batter) and Jay through to keeper George Bryant. In a bid to accelerate, Gareth Jones perished and was caught by Subhash Vadella off Prashant Pandey at long off in the 42nd over. Gareth departed for a well made 78 (104). Matthew Gillespie and Harvey Fairclough finished with an unbroken 48* run partnership to carry Irby to a respectable 205/5 off 50 overs. Extras were second highest scorer at 39 followed by Charlie Jones at 34.

Barrow Innings

Barrow innings started well with stalwart Julian and ever so calm Tom putting up a solid 59 in 16 overs for the first wicket partnership. Barrow lost both the openers, 1 run apart, to Matthew Gillespie’s accurate bowling. This brought in the left hand-right hand combination of Danny and Prashant to the middle. Danny held the fortress whilst Prashant was quickly off the blocks striking 10 boundaries between overs 21 and 29. The duo put on 62 in 12 overs for the third wicket before Danny got dismissed for 14 off young leggie Bruno who bowled a beautiful leg break to beat the batter. Subhash B, the debutant, defended a few before departing without troubling the score. Next in was the technically gifted Hawkeye. Prashant and Hawkeye put on 55 in 12 overs for the 5th wicket before Hawkeye was dismissed for a patient 11. Barrow still needed 29 runs off 8 overs at this stage. Things got spicy in the middle when Barrow lost 2 quick wickets of Vice Captain George ‘Lambrini’ Bryant and Rob Munro. Barrow needed 17 runs off 4 overs at this stage. Prashant batting on 83 at this time was joined by the hard-hitting batter Subhash Vadella. Nervousness was clearly visible both in the dugout and in the middle with the Upton style finish looming large. Once bitten twice shy, Prash was still feeling the sting from the tied game with Upton and was consistently reminding Subhash to curb his explosive instincts. Subhash hung around with some solid backfoot defence. Prash stuck 2 fours and a single off the 47th over to narrow the gap to 8 runs off last 3 overs. Oscar bowled a tight 48th over but Prash navigated the over safely to score a double followed by a single to keep the strike for the 49th over. Barrow needed 5 runs off 2 overs at this stage. Prash took single off the first ball to bring the victory within one hit. Meanwhile, Subhash’s patience withered off and an aerial hoick over mid-off landed safely for a single. Prash hit the winning boundary off the third delivery to clinch a victory for Barrow whilst bringing up his second ton of the season.