South Notts League: Rain checks Belvoir victory bid

After the early fall of the first wicket, an aggressive Olly Elson (21) was obviously keen to get on with things and smacked three excellent fours before Nadim Ghani (2 for 20) bowled him with a beauty.

The elegant Olly Clayfield (23) carried on the good work until he became one of three victims of wicket-keeper Jawad Burney.

Clayfield’s departure coincided with the introduction of Tayyab Khan (3 for 43) who wreaked havoc with Belvoir’s middle order.

However, a pumped-up Phil Irvine (46) took the fight to the bowlers with a counter-punching performance which included two huge sixes over wide long-on.

His eighth-wicket partnership with a dogged Jamie Gilbertson added 40 invaluable runs and a second bonus point before he fell to the tricky Wasim Karim (3 for 22).

When the Casuals batted chasing Belvoir’s total of 164, Danny Gibson and Joe Bottomley shared the first two wickets before the Karim brothers, Wasim and Rahim, mounted a fightback.

This was short-lived thanks to second-change Irvine who took 2 for 12 in five miserly overs.

Bottomley (3 for 37) then reduced the Casuals to 63-6, aided by a fabulous one-handed catch by Olly Clayfield, diving well to his right at point.

Rahul Saggar and Shahzad Ahmed blocked out another seven overs before it started to rain and the match was abandoned.