Westmorland League

 

Westgate A 71-10

Ingleton 75-6

THE efforts of ground staff and players enabled Westgate to host the only game in the Westmorland League on Saturday.

Under grey skies and in a damp air, Ingleton won the toss and bowled first in a game reduced to 37 overs each.

On a track that would always favour the bowler, the home side made a positive start reaching 34-2 in the 10th over, with Chris Cape impressing again with 17.

When G Whittaker (5-22), induced Cape to play on, Westgate’s top order collapsed to 34-5, as Whitaker’s’ inswingers took their toll. Kyle Gill (10) and Rob Shillitoe steadied the ship with a partnership of 23 taking the score to 57, before Gill fell LBW to G Kellet (4-24) trundling up the hill.

This prompted another collapse as Kellet took 3 wickets in the overs and in the blink of an eye Westgate were barely treading water at 60-9. The tail wagged a little before the innings closed at 71, 30 runs short of a competitive total.

Ingleton made a great but steady start, with the G Standring (23) and D McGonnigal (16) accumulating 36 runs for the opening partnership before Shillitoe trapped Strandring LBW.

When the stubborn McGonnigal fell the same way, Westgate sensed an opportunity to get back into the game at 45-4. The Yorkshire’s side hopes rested on G Kellet (27 no) and in one game changing over he hit 14 runs to take them to touching distance of victory.

Rob Shillitoe (6-27) kept ploughing away in a strong headwind and with the scores tied, took another couple of wickets to give the home side false hope of a dramatic win. Unable to keep match winner Kellet off strike, Ingleton took the 12 points.