Hosiery Mills halt champions Cuckney's resurgence

All-rounder James Hawley, who scored a half-century and took four wickets for Cuckney. (PHOTO BY: Rachel Atkins)

After a sticky start to their defence of the Notts Premier League title, Cuckney appeared to be getting back on track.

But they could manage only a winning draw against Hosiery Mills, who came within nine runs of an upset after dismissing the shocked hosts for just 162.

All-rounder James Hawley was one of the few players in top form for Cuckney, opening the batting with a half-century and later taking four wickets with the ball.

Hawley made a patient 52, including one six and seven fours, but received little support at the other end as William Butler, skipper Nick Langford and Tom Ullyott all fell cheaply before Nick Keast weighed in with 25 (three fours).

Hawley was fourth man out on 90, and of the rest of the batsmen, only Jonathan Ball, with 31 (three fours), threatened to spark Cuckney into life.

Instead, most of the honours went to the Hosiery Mills bowling attack, most notably Keshara Jayasinghe (3-25 in eight overs), Kyle Garside (2-26 in 12 overs), Chamikara Mudalige (2-28 in 7.2 overs) and Anuk Sampathawaduge Fernando (1-34 in 12 overs).

It was a similar story after tea, however, as the bowlers remained on top to lead a Cuckney fightback. None of Hosiery Mills’s frotnline batsmen could get going and they slid to 37-4, 77-6 and 116-8 against Hawley (4-33 in 12 overs), Keast (2-26 in eight) and Jack Cattrall (2-30 in 12).

It was left to Kunal Manek to turn things round, and he did such a good job of it, with an unbeaten 48 (five fours) from 92 balls, that he almost turned a losing draw into a win as they finished on 153-9.