Hindley St. Peter’s 1st XI lost their unbeaten record on Saturday when they came off second best in a top of the table encounter away at Flixton.

Batting first, HSP got off to a terrible start when an unnecessarily risky single in the first over saw a direct hit which resulted in the in-form Paul Delargy being run out without even facing a ball. Fellow opener Shoaib Khan was caught behind in the next over to leave HSP two wickets down without a run on the board. Against a challenging opening attack HSP struggled to get the ball away and, when the third wicket went down at the end of the 11th over, HSP were only 14-3. Phil Moorfield dug in to anchor the innings and captain Martin Storey came in and counter attacked with some early boundaries to try to give the innings some momentum. HSP gradually began to take some control over the innings and Moorfield and Storey added 84 in 19 overs before Storey picked out a fielder and was caught for 58 at almost a run a ball. Mark Wood kept the score moving with 23 from 18 balls in a stand of 49 in eight overs, while all the time Moorfield was holding things together at the other end and steadily building his score. As the innings neared its end, a tiring Moorfield was caught behind for 87 but he had done his job and enabled HSP to post a final total of 190-9 from their 45 overs, an excellent recovery from the position they had found themselves in early on.

On a fast scoring ground against a top side this was unlikely to be enough, but HSP started well and John Wilkinson struck with his very first ball. Mark Wood removed the other opener in his second over and, at 13-2, it looked as though Flixton might not have it all their own way after all. The home side rallied well, though, with a partnership of 87 in sixteen overs that took Flixton to the hundred mark before Ian Chesworth finally broke the stand with an LBW. Ishtiyaq Shaikh picked up another in the next over to bring HSP back into contention again, but a fifth wicket stand of 77 gave the initiative back to Flixton and although HSP took a couple of late wickets there was nothing else they could do and Flixton reached their target with three overs to spare.

Back at Hindley an extraordinary match saw the 2nd XI smash almost every record going as they blew away the visiting Whalley Range side. HSP batted first and came out of the blocks rapidly through Noman Khalid and Sabhat Zahid. The first over of the game was a maiden but then Noman and Sabhat really got stuck into the Whalley Range bowlers, and by the end of the tenth over the run rate was into double figures. The visitors had nothing to offer to stem the flow of runs as each bowler they tried was put to the sword. The score had reached 279 at the end of the 24th over when Sabhat fell nine runs short of a century, having faced only 57 balls. This didn’t stop Noman’s onslaught, and he became the first batsman to reach 200 on a Saturday for HSP, making 204 from 105 balls before he was finally out. With 19 fours and 17 sixes, his score was all the more remarkable for the fact that he didn’t score from any of the first eight deliveries he faced. Among all the carnage Toseef Khan’s 49 from 44 balls almost went unnoticed as HSP finished their 45 overs on a barely believable 436-7, beating the previous club record total by over 100 runs.

Chasing such a target Whalley Range were on a hiding to nothing in reply. They made a brave effort but, with Noman adding 3-10 from seven overs to his batting exploits, and two wickets each for Fahim Ashraf, Lukman Tailor and Sabhat Zahid, Whalley Range were 154 all out, giving HSP victory by no fewer than 282 runs.

Next Saturday the 1st XI host Swinton Moorside, while the seconds can rest from their exploits as they have no fixture.