Hoppers cricket team produced a fine performance in the Monday evening sun to claim the Boddingtons Village Cricket League Knock Out Cup by beating Fulwood & Broughton CC.
Winning the toss, inspirational skipper Jim Moore decided to put faith in his bowlers and invited Fulwood & Broughton to bat on the artificial surface at Guy’s Thatched Hamlet.
Tom Peterson and Michael Lough took the new ball and kept things very tight with F&B struggling to find the boundary. This was followed up by an injection of pace and bounce from Craig Steel and Cameron Berry with Berry rolling back the years to take 2 wickets. Moore then turned to Ally Murray who also chipped in with 2 wickets whilst himself keeping things tight from the other end with his guile and variation.
As the innings reached the final quarter F&B’s danger men entered the fray only to be dismissed with some fantastic work from Steel in the deep using his tall frame to take a couple of excellent catches.
After a tremendous performance in the field from Hoppers, F&B had reached a total of 111 from their 20 overs.
Pete Ingham and Liam Zolotarczuk padded up first for Hoppers and despite some dubious running between the wickets got the team off to a steady start. Poor running between the wickets eventually caught up with the pair and after a calling mix up Zolotarczuk was run out and walked despite the umpire not giving the decision. This brought in form man Tom Peterson to the crease who went about his business in his usual hustle and bustle style.
Just a few overs later and Ingham and Peterson had retired putting Hoppers in a commanding position to win the match. Despite a short innings from John Peterson, the Hoppers team went into overdrive with Berry and Murray launching the ball all around the ground to carry the team home in just 16.1 overs.
The side followed the win up with another victory on Wednesday evening in the league to cement their position at the top of the league at the half way stage.
To view the full scorecard from the game please follow the link below.
