The final day of Roses saw the final cricket match of Roses 2023. York’s men came in off the back of two losses in the 2’s and 3’s on Saturday so were hoping to restore some pride in the Men’s camp with a victory in the 1’s match.
Those with an eye on the weather forecast knew that rain was coming in the afternoon, predicted for some point in the second innings, so it was doubtful that a meaningful match could be completed. York won the toss and decided to bowl first. This decision seemed poor, as Lancaster were able to score off the bat, with a few fours and even a six coming in the early overs. York were able to get wickets though as well as capitalising on mistakes from Lancaster with many wickets falling from runouts. Lancaster were bowled out before their allocation of 50 overs was up, scoring 172 which left York needing 173 runs to win.
During the innings break, the rain came down and the covers came on, but it was only a light sprinkling so they were quickly removed to allow York’s chase to commence. York started poorly, two wickets coming in the first 10 minutes of the innings. They then managed to build a partnership but were mostly running behind the DLS par score. As the rain began to fall, so did York’s batters with five wickets falling in a 25 minute period. At this point, York needed around 80 runs to win with only 2 wickets in hand and with the rain falling harder, it looked unlikely they would have the time or the resources to make those runs.
However, the rain never fell sufficiently hard to force a break in play and York began to score. Fours, twos and singles flowed and, after the ninth wicket fell, York found themselves needing 13 runs to win from 18 balls. As silence fell on 22 acres, cricket the last sport left to compete on the playing fields, Abdul Wasey Mohammad bowled the third from last over and took the final wicket clean bowled to give Lancaster the win.
Cue a pitch invasion from the huge number of Lancaster supporters and a celebration from the away side. On a day that initially looked as if it would be washed out, we were treated to a fantastically close, high scoring cricket match, providing memories that both players and fans will hold dear for a long time.
