RWCC 69 all out
Oswaldtwistle 57 all out

The final game of the season proved to be one of the most dramatic of the season for Wanderers as they travelled to Oswaldtwistle on Saturday.

The Oswaldtwistle skipper won the toss and asked Wanderers to bat first – perhaps armed with the knowledge that the wicket was not ideal for batting.

Oswaldtwistle pro Will Carr turned in a superb bowling performance to devastate the Wanderers batting line up, returning match figures of 8 for 20 from just under 15 overs. Only Shahid Nawaz (20) and Martin Peel (17) managed to reach double figures as Wanderers were bowled out for 69 from just 28.5 overs.

It could have been a lot worse had it not been for a last wicket partnership of 21 between Martin Peel and Phillip Hall (2 no.).

Oswaldtwistle must have thought they had the game won, but they had not counted on the returning Dave Howard who had missed the last 5-6 weeks due to a knee injury.

Oswaldtwistle reached 26 without loss before Howard struck, removing skipper Metcalf for 17. In his next over he dismissed fellow opener Payne for 10 to give Wanderers some hope.

At 43 for 2, it still looked like the home side were well in control, but a flurry of wickets saw them collapse to 50 for 8, with Howard taking all the wickets. At this point Graham Monk decided to spoil the captain’s fun as he claimed the ninth wicket to fall, only for Howard to wrap the innings up a couple of overs later.

Oswaldtwistle were all out for 57 and Wanderers claimed the full 7 points. Howard had the remarkable figures of 9 for 31 from 19.2 overs – and this after not bowling for so long due to his injury. Perhaps the unluckiest man on the day was Oswaldtwistle’s pro Will Carr who ended up on the losing side after himself taking 8 wickets.