Warrington go top with two-wicket win

WARRINGTON went top in the Vivio Cheshire County League second division with a two wicket win at Northwich.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat first and posted a useful 226-9, Brad McIntosh taking 6-80.
Warrington’s batsmen all contributed to the run chase but James Hughes top scored with 50 and Will Fleetwood hit 46 as the side reached 229-8 to leapfrog Bollington and go eight points clear at the top of the table.
In the premier division, Grappenhall suffered a nine wicket defeat at the hands of Chester Boughton Hall at Broad Lane, leaving them still struggling at the foot of the table in what looks likely to become a struggle for survival between four clubs.
Things started well, with James McCoy, 73 and Adam Roylance, 45 putting on 103 for the first wicket. Bu after that the batting collapsed and Grappers finished on a below par 181.
The visitors started slowly but then accelerated away to win by nine wickets in 35.2 overs.
Grappenhall 2nd travelled to near neighbours Warrington and were tumbled out for 130 – with Albert Pennington hitting 70 – his second half-century since returning from a serious injury.
Warrington chased the runs down with plenty of time to spare.
Grappenhall 3rd posted an unlikely victory over  Toft at Broad Lane.
The visitors hit 199, Stan Pennington taking four wickets. Then fine innings by Arthur Pennington, 49, James Jenkinson, 46 and David Seed, 31 plus some heroics from the tail took Grappers to victory with two wickets to spare.
In the TACS Partnership Cheshire League, Lymm Oughtrington Park came unstuck against Winnington Park at Oughtrington Lane.
The Northwich side batted first and boldly declared on 2005, Travis Scholes taking 3-63. Lymm subsided for 177, the only significant contributions coming from Nafees Din, 57 and Shahzad Buff, 40.
Lymm Oughtrington Park 2qnd also lost – by seven wickets – at Romily. Batting first, they reached 148-8, Arvind Pillai top scoring with an unbeaten 65. But the home side coasted to 149-3, Tony Spaven taking 2-37.
In the Cheshire Alliance, Glazebury came out on top in a low scoring game with Tranmere Victoria at Hurst Lane.
Glazebury’s 100 all out didn’t look promising, with Jack Warhurst, 18, the top scorer. But Vics were bowled out for 74, Sam Stanier taking 7-23.
It was a similar story in the 2nd XI game at Tranmere, where the home side were dismissed for 61, Chris Ayre taking 3-28, David Nicholson 5-22 and Gerard Southworth 2-8. Glazebury raced to victory by eight wickets, Paul Warhurst hammering 33 not out and Ian McCjue hitting 18 not out.
Rylands hung on for a draw against Port Sunlight, who batted first and posted 213-5. Rylands replied with 187-7, skipper Sean Peters scoring 39.
Stretton won easily after posting 159 at Pott Shrigley. The home side were dismissed for 91.
Some big hitting  enabled Stretton 2nd to reach 271-7, against Styal,  S Ehmed 68, Will Metcalf 52 not out and Farhad Qayum 49.  Styal’s depleted batting crumbled and they were back in the pavilion with only 46 on the board. Jason Taylor took 5-14.