North Leeds travelled to Calverley in a 2pm start for first round of their Chappell cup campaign. Alex McDonald made his debut for the 3XI. It must be one of the biggest grounds in the league, plus on top of that, this game was played smack bang on the centre wicket. Skipper H.Ahmad won the toss and had one thing on his mind, to bat. A no brainer decision really as U.Mir and A.Chana were still on route via the A6120.The usual partnership of J.Heath and T.Aldred opened up, on what has to be said, a very true and hard deck. The pair of them started patiently and waited for the bad ball to be put away, with some elegant cuts and drives. A solid 67-0 had been formed after 10 overs. It did not take long after that for them both to get right into the free flowing groove. 37 were compiled off the next 4 overs as the score swiftly moved to 104. A significant moment for Tom came up in that period of time as he ticked over to a well composed maiden senior 50. John’s highlight in that little phase was a booming drive over extra cover for half a dozen as he shifted into the 40’s.

A further 33 were added in the next 4 over allotment as John himself moved past 50, the pair had now stacked their way into the 60s.Tom then abruptly and without warning, decided to slam his foot down on the accelerator, flicking and swatting some balls in the arc to propel himself into the 90’s. 29 had been taken off the 19th and 20th over combined. Leeds were 166-0 at halfway and in dreamland. The pair of them had a very brief chat at drinks but there was no let up after the refuelling session; they proceeded to rake 46 off the next 5 overs to notch up a stunning double century opening stand, running hard between the wickets as Tom brought up a stupendous maiden senior ton of his own in the process. His three figure milestone was reached with a straight drive down the ground to the fence. One he will truly savour, cherish and remember, as he held his arms aloft to a rousing reception. We hope one of many more to come. A couple of overs later, John himself brought his own ton up, a strong punch down the ground to long-off, before casually walking through to his first for the club. No celebration from him like Tom’s as he put his head down and got right back down to business. As the score rocked past 240,a few of us on the sidelines were beginning to check the record books for the highest third team opening stand in the cup. Although there was no mention of that on the website, the highest in the league was mentioned, 267* by our very own N.Khan and H. Kellaway vs. Collingham some years ago.

The truly remarkable opening stand ended with the score on 255. J.Thornton got Calverely the desperately required wicket, his flighted off-spin had Tom well caught behind for a mammoth 131.A.Mcdonald joined John at the crease. There were no sighters to get set; it seemed he had come straight from the nets. He went guns blazing at anything and everything, as the ball was dispatched all around the ground. John was more than happy to play second fiddle at this point and give him strike. The highlight of Alex’s innings was the 2 enormous sixes he hit back to back to reach 50 in no time. The best of the lot he hit was the one which flew over cow corner into the house, new ball please. His blistering 27 ball 67 came to an end in the second last over of the innings. He was superbly caught by J.Thornton low down on the square leg fence, off the bowling of M.Shaw; it was hit like a tracer bullet. Leeds piled on 105 in the final 10 to finish on 360-2, John finished with a red inker 139*

Things were very relaxed at tea time, almost too relaxed. C.Hutton and H.Ahmad opened up the bowling for Leeds. It was Hammad who got the early breakthrough. He produced a brilliant response after G.Womack planted his free hit for half a dozen over long-on. Bang in front the very next ball, 18-1.Charlie bowled with some aggression after finding some rhythm but the Leeds skipper didn’t seem to have the right field setting. A few of his short pitched deliveries would have found the fielders hands rather than the fence if a sweeper was on three quarters for the pull. Hammad eventually got Leeds their second after the home side brought up 50 in 8 overs. J.Rothwell clean bowled with an in-swinger which knocked back middle, for 11. A.Verma looked in fine touch with some wristy glances and dabs. You could tell it would require a good nut to remove him; it’s exactly what Z.Khan produced, an in-swinger to knock his middle pole back for 23, the total now 57-3.
A short while later, the Leeds skipper claimed his third for the day, L.Sugden was caught at mid-off by Alex on the edge of the ring for 4.The score now 67-4.It was at this point however Leeds seemed to switch off in the field. It allowed both J.Thornton and J.Armstrong to settle in nicely and form a partnership, while playing some sweet drives to the boundary.43 had been accumulated for the 5th wicket before A.Ralphs spun one through the defences of J.Thornton on 11. A patient 38 was formed by the next two batsmen as they nudged the ball around into the gaps for runs. As the score got to 146, R.Herd on 23 received a brilliant delivery from Archie, it clipped the off stump as he claimed his second.

Hammad was then involved in a high flying stunt act for the next wicket 2 runs later, to bag U.Mir his first wicket. The set man J.Armstrong on 38 flashed at one which rose off a length, Hammad at a wide first slip flung himself to his right in mid air to pull off a one handed stunner. A short while later, Alex was introduced into the attack, it only took him a couple of overs to leave a mark, he claimed 2 in 2 to leave the home side 9 down. The first of which was a yorker which rocked back middle peg to remove J.Roundhill for 13.The second was another stunner caught at slip in this innings, P.Gregory poked at one just outside off, A.Chana got low down to his right to take the sharp chance, before doing a runner in celebration. He didn’t have much to celebrate today, largely due to the fact he didn’t get a bat. 170-9 is what Calverley finished on after 40 overs. Had Leeds taken their catches, it would have finished sooner rather than later, a resounding 190 run victory never the less.

Leeds host Saltaire this week at the homestead. It’s a bit of a shame it’s not away at their place as it’s a sight to see, if they keep progressing in the cup though they will see it, in the final