Saeed and Ilyas spur Freiston LL on to winning start

Freiston Leake and Leverton produced an excellent performance to begin their SLBL Premier Division campaign in the best possible way, with an emphatic victory at Woodhall Spa Seconds.

After being asked to bat first, Zeeshan Saeed and Waseem Ilyas shared an excellent second wicket partnership.

The pair added 148 at better than a run a ball, to give Freiston an excellent platform.

Saeed made 77 and Ilyas 68. They were both dismissed in quick succession, but Abdul Moeed and Usman Ahmed continued the excellent progress.

Ahmed made 37 before he became Sam Cherry’s second victim.

Moeed became the third Freiston half-centurion as he made 54.

Sunil Panjwani (25 not out), Ashok Kumar (11) and Tommy Atkinson (4 not out) all helped ensure Freiston made 300 off their 45 overs.

Opening bowlers Ryan Overton and Ollie Booth started well with the ball for Freiston, immediately putting pressure on the home side.

With the scoring rate below three an over, it was Booth who dismissed both openers in his opening spell.

Booth also had Alex Hodson (21) caught by Ilyas at mid on. With Freiston in command spinners Moeed and Kumar ripped through the Woodhall middle order.

The pair shared five wickets, to reduce the home side to 82-8.

Freiston were frustrated by a determined 79 run partnership between James White, who made 57, and Matt Haslam (32 not out). White was eventually dismissed by Ahmed thanks to a sharp catch by Tommy Atkinson.

Abdul Moeed picked up the final wicket, his fourth, as Freiston dismissed Woodhall for 189, to complete a fantastic victory.

Freiston’s Second XI begin their league season at Skegness Seconds this weekend.