Westgate win to claim second successive title

Westgate's Garry Tattersall. Picture: Tony North

Westgate secured the Westmorland Cricket League Division One title for the second year running with a five-wicket win over Silverdale on Saturday at Cross Hill Park.

Going into the game the hosts knew that 10 points would be enough to retain the championship, and they did so fairly comfortably in the end.

Silverdale elected to bat first and got off to a steady but slow start, with the first 10 runs taking up 11 overs.

Garry Tattersall (2-12) then removed openers John Mason (6) and Keith Forster (2) before Sam Letcher (30) and Phil Mason (45) moved the score on to 80-4 from 30 overs.

Skipper Andy Hill then had a dazzling display of bowling, claiming both the top scorers as he returned figures of five for 20 - his first ‘five for’ of the season, as Silverdale finished on a below par total of 109-9.

Westgate’s reply didn’t get off to the best start as Craig Buchanan (0) fell victim to Matthew James to leave them on 0-1.

However, Tattersall (18) and Sam Frith (40) put Westgate in a commanding position at 65-1 before a probing spell from Johnny Mason (3-25) caused a wobble.

The Silverdale bowler took the wickets of Tattersall, Alex Briggs (3) and Frith, while Phil Mason (1-23) got rid of Hill (1) to temporarily slow Westgate down.

Andreas Arestidou (21no) and Khan Puffett (5no) showed no nerves though as they saw Westgate home to a five-wicket victory with 14 overs to spare to claim their seventh title since 2000.