A SPARKLING century from Luke McCoy steered Grappenhall back to winning ways in the Chapel Press Cheshire County League.
It was his first “ton” for Grappers and was particularly timely as the side chased a formidable 233-6 posted by Poynton
The home side made first use of a green but slowing wicket and got off to a good start.
Grappenhall’s attack made little headway and it was only in his second spell that Aussie paceman Dean Riches made the crucial breakthrough.
He ended up with 5-62 – his first five wicket haul at Grappenhall – and the only wicket to call was a run out.
Grappenhall lost stand-in skipper Richard Green cheaply but James McCoy hit a useful 48 and then brother Luke came in to hit a magnificent 103 to earn the points,
Supported by Ian Wright with 28 and Adam Roylance with 33 not out.
The win keeps Grappenhall at the top of the league and ready for their clash with nearest challengers Widnes at Broad Lane next Saturday.
On Sunday, they travel to Bamford for the regional final of the national ECB national knock-out. It is hoped skipper Steve Titchard, who has missed the last three games through injiry will be back for both games.
Grappenhall 2nd were held to a draw by Poynton at Broad Lane. Batting first they reached 191-8, Dave Nicholson hitting 32, Mike Holden 42, Jack Critchley 31 and Matt Titchard 37.
Man-of-the-match Critchley took 6-23 and Ian Barnes-Hall 3-40 as Poynton held on for a draw at 171-9.
Grappenhall 3rd held on for a draw against Didsbury, who batted first and reached 214 for the loss of only three wickets. Grappenhall scraped a draw with 154-9, Neil Muttock stop-scoring with 79 not out, Tom Roberts hitting 28 and Mike Moss hitting 21.
Warrington lost out by three runs in an exciting finish against Brooklands at Walton Lea.
The visitors batted first and were dismissed for a modest 151, Ryan Swart taking 3-28 and Jordan Mitchell 4-59. Warrington struggled when they replied and were dismissed for 148 with only Malcolm Agar, 64, troubling the bowlers.
However, Warrington progressed to the next round of the Twenty20 Plate with a four run victory over Middlewich.
Batting first, Warrington hit 169-4, Brendan Morris 52 not out, Malcolm Agar 37, Tom Jones 28 and Richard Heaney 28 not out. Matt Adams took 3-11 as Middlewich were held to 165-5
Warrington 2nd totalled 199-9, Ian Sleigh 62, James Coneeny 36 and then bowled out the Brooklands second string for 191. Joel Chadderton took 3-23, Coneeny 2-31 and Howard Morris 2-31.
In the Cheshire Alliance, Appleton struck winning form after a bleak spell with an 83-run victory over Chelford.
Batting first, Appleton hit 173-5, Richard Clarke hitting 84 and David Hurst 33. Chelford were bowled out for 90, Edward Pugh taking 4-7 and Ed Sygrove, Pete Worrall and Chris Tomlinson picking up two wickets each.
Appleton 2nd were gifted 25 points when Eastham conceded the match and the 3rd XI picked up a good win over Frodsham.
Tom McIntosh hit 45 as Frodsham reached 123-9 and then bowled Frodsham out for 82. Paul Grumley and Andy Jackson picked up six wickets between them.
Appleton 4th had Rylands struggling on 106-7, Ben Swannell taking 3-22 but then let them off the hook to finish with 206. Appleton then had to hold on at 129-9.
Rylands held The Groves to 171-8, Sean Malone taking 4-54 and Adam Peters 3-35. But their batsmen disappointed and they were dismissed for 142, Richard Buck stop scoring with 36 and Malone hitting 24.
Glazebury’s title drive stuttered slightly when they were forced to play for a draw against Saughall at Hurst Lane.
The visitors hit 218-9, despite some fine bowling from Kyle Keeble, 6-35 and Dave Acton 2-43. Glazebury then struggled for runs and it was left to skipper Wayne Hargreaves, 24 and Callum Morgan, 21, to play defensive innings.
Glazebury 2nd notched up a welcome victory, however, when they travelled to Didsbury and posted 168, Chris Lord hitting 58 and Matt Shailer 33.
Didsbury were bowled out for 92, Jon Gibbons taking 5-22 and Chris Lord 4-31
Women’s Cricket
WARRINGTON moved off the bottom of the Women’s Premier
League North with an eight wicket victory over Old Modernians.
Kate Harvey struck in the first over, this early strike
being followed by Modernians’ best stand of the match between Helen Wardlaw ,28
and Claire Atkinson, 27. Jemma Bentley broke this partnership, then Shami Ahmed
chipped in with two important wickets.
Coral
Murphy and Mary Priestner then took their first ever Premier League wickets,
with Priestner cleaning up the remainder of the Leeds team’s batting line up,
including the scalp of Phoebe Graham for 37, whose innings had featured two
sixes in two balls at one stage. Modernians were all out for 153.
Most
of the work was done in reply via a second wicket stand of 120 at seven and a
half per over from Jennie Kitzinger and Kate Harvey, who were merciless on every
bad ball received. Kitzinger made 55 from 57 deliveries with 10 fours, her
second successive50, and Harvey reached this milestone for the first time,
finishing unbeaten on 52 from 62 balls in with nine fours. Warrington got home
inside 26 overs to ensure maximum points.
In the Cheshire Women’s League, Appleton remain the last unbeaten team across all competitions, maintaining this record by the tiniest of margins at home to Chester Boughton Hall.
Appleton are now guaranteed top spot
in the Western Division and a home semi-final. The Tigers needed to chase down
106 for once without a significant contribution from skipper Emma Barlow, who
fell second ball to Lorna Thomas. Debbie Kingston and Anni Rashid both made 21
to keep their side in the hunt, but it appeared the likes of Nicky Deane, who
took 1-7 in four overs, would prevail.
The crucial contribution came with an
unbeaten 23 in 14 deliveries from Jess Lewis, which included four from the
final delivery when two were required. Earlier Thomas made 25 retired, Sal
Cowap 24 and Nic Capes 24 not out as Chester posted 105-2. This is now the
fifth occasion this season when a three figure total has not been sufficient to
win a 20 over match.
