GRAPPENHALL gave their chances of avoiding relegation from the Vivio Cheshire County League premier division a real shot in the arm with a fine win at mid-table Neston.
The home side batted first and posted 207- 7 off their 55 overs with Sam Guest returning with excellent figures of 3 – 45 off 17 overs, bowling slower than usual after a shoulder injury.
Spinner Matt Titchard picked up two wickets as the Grappers bowlers did well to contain the Neston batting line up.
Grappers got off to a tremendous start in reply with openers James McCoy, recently returned to the side, and Jamie Bye putting on 80 for the first wicket. McCoy was first to go with a lovely knock of 59 with Bye shortly following for a solid 41.
Pete Barnes was as dependable as ever with 40 as he eased Grappers towards the finish line. A few wobbles in the middle order made the game tighter than it deserved to be but Ben Bodha grafted to see Grappers home with 10 overs to spare for the loss of six wickets. The win puts them almost 20 points clear but still only one position clear of relegation as they go to bottom of the table Bowdon on Saturday.
Grappenhall 2nd won a tremendous game at Broad Lane against top of the table Outlon Park as they went back into the promotion places.
The visitors got off to a flyer with both openers posting fifties but things were pulled back with a couple of wickets. Ben Cagna and Arthur Pennington, two slow bowlers at opposite ends of the age spectrum, turned the screw together as they picked up three wickets apiece to do remarkably well to keep the visitors to only 204 – 6 at the end of their 50 overs.
Grappers got off to a good start before opener Will Sharp fell for 25. Iain Wright joined the other opener Arthur Pennington at the crease and they frustrated the life out of the strong Oulton Park attack with some solid batting. As the game went on Grappers were well set with both batsmen batting patiently and keeping the board ticking over. Both Pennington and Wright picked up the rate and fell as Grappers were in the box seat for excellent scores of 70 and 63 respectively. A couple more wickets fell but Grappers held their nerve and won by five wickets with seven balls to spare. A superb win and 25 points takes grappers to within three points of top spot.
Grappenhall 3rd lost by six wickets to Didsbury after being tumbled out for 116 – a total they could not defend.
Warrington lost by 59 runs at Upton after inviting the home side to bat first and what looked a damp wicket.
Upton overcame any threat from the Warrington attack, posintg 195-4 with James Rudd the pick of the bowlers with 2-52. Chia Gadepalli, 1.24 and Johan Els, 1-42 were the only other wicket takers.
A number of Warrington batsmen got in, but only Ashley Scholes, 37, went on to make much of a contribution as the side subsided to 136 all out.
Warrington 2nd lost by 121 against Cheadle, with the visitors posting 193-8. Arron Soni, 3-43 lead the attack with Dave Lee, 2-26 and Phil Whelan, 1-24 adding support.
When Warrington batted, their good form of recent weeks deserted them and they were rolled over for 72 with only three batsmen getting into double figures.
Lymm Oughtrington Park’s 1st XI game was rained off, but the 2nd XI fought out a draw with Neston at Oughtrington Lane.
Batting first, Lymm reached 147-7, Graham Waumsley hitting 34 and Arvind Pillai 42.
At the close, the visitors were 137-9, Tony Spaven taking 3-15 and Pillai 3-37.
Appleton went down by27 runs at home to Wilmslow Wayfarers – despite bowling well to dismiss the visitors for what seemed a very gettable 115.
But it was a day for the bowlers and the home side batsmen could only muster 88 in 39 overs.
Appleton 3rd were asked to bat first against Europa Exiles at The Grange and reached 116-9, largely thanks to Jim Warham who hit a lively 43 not out.
The Exiles replied with 120-6, with Oliver Cross, 2-26 the most effective Appleton bowler.
Stretton batted first at Aston and struggled for runs, being bowled out for 114 in the 37th over, with Jagdish Ratnagiri top scoring with 30. But in a tense finish, the home side fell short by eight runs in the 49th over. I Mohammed and Ali Zubairi picked up four wickets each.
Winning the toss at home, Stretton 2nd inserted Port Sunlight and saw them total 174-8 in 45 overs,
In reply, they found runs hard to get and had to settle for a draw with the last pair at the wicket with 124 on the board.
Warrington 3rd lost by 89 runs at Barnton, where the home side batted first and totalled 161.
The Warrington bowlers performed well, with Theo McCarthy taking 3-37, John Burgess 3-35 and Bruce Jardine 3-12.
But the batsmen failed to come up with the goods and were all back in the pavilion for 72 with only four reaching double figures.
Glazebury 2nd went d0wn by 58 runs at Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge.
The home side batted first and reached 170, despite David Nicholson’s 5-40 and good support from Jordan Carroll, 2-35 and Hakeem Dahou, 2-54.
But Glazebury’s batsmen turned in a below par performance, with only skipper Wayne Hargreaves, 34 and Dahou, 38, contributing much to an all-out total of 112.
