A nine-wicket victory over Irby consolidated Grappenhall’s position in division one of the Chapel Press Cheshire County League.
The Wirral side batted first at Broad Lane and were soon in trouble against Steve Titchard’s controlled off spin.
They were back in the pavilion with only 105 on the board, with the Grappenhall skipper finishing with figures of 4-16 and Cameron Park clearing up the tail with 3-6.
Opener Richard Green hit an unbeaten 61 as Grappenhall replied with 107-1.
Warrington remained rooted at the bottom of the table, despite a creditable draw against Timperley who batted first at Walton Lea and declared on 239-5.
Steve Heydon was Warrington’s most successful bowler with 4-83.
Warrington’s reply was solid but unspectacular, with James Hughes top scoring with 36 and Heydon unbeaten on 27 the top scorers. But most batsmen chipped in with a few and Warrington were 181-8 at the close.
In the 2nd XI stakes, Warrington enjoyed a four wicket victory at Timperley.
The home side batted first and reached a formidable 239-3. But Malcolm Gwatkin, 71 and David Baxter, 60 batted well as Warrington reached their target for the loss of six wickets.
Grappenhall 2nd were held to a draw at Oxton but could count themselves unlucky.
Batting first, they finished on 194-8, skipper Mike Holden hitting 79 and Matt Titchard 26 before being taken to hospital after top-edging the ball into his right eye.
Fortunately, his injuries were not serious but he took no further part in the match.
Adam Roylance hit 36 before going on to bowl superbly for 7-55 as Oxton were left hanging on at 140-9.
Grappenhall 3rd were held to a draw by Timperley after hitting 221-9, Chris France 84, Les Connolly 24, Neil Muttock 25 and Bradley Angel 27.
Timperley put on 112 for the first wicket but then lost their way to end up on 161-6. France rounded-off a fine personal performance with 3-39.
In the Twenty20 Plate, Grappenhall hit a massive 197-8, Richard Green 50 and Garry Burns 60, and then reduced Timperley to 140-9, with 16-year-old Adam Roylance taking 3-5.
In the Meller Braggins Cheshire League, Lymm Oughtrington Park coasted to a nine-wicket win over Bowdon Vale, tumbling the visitors out for a meagre 51.
The Lymm 2nd XI also had a good win after restricting Lindow to 192-9, they replied with 193-6.
Stretton went down by 22 runs at the hands of Sandbach after the visitors had batted first and totalled 125. Stretton were dismissed for 103.
In the Cheshire Alliance, Glazebury dismissed homesters Rostherne for 56, veteran Stewart Caller taking 4-20, Dave Acton 3-12 and Kyle Keeble 2-9. Glazebury replied with 57-2, Acton hitting an unbeaten 24 and Jon Gibbons 16.
Glazebury defeated Hartford by 29, spurred on by a fine unbeaten 85 from Andy Calvert, well supported by Andy Durrington, 25 and Michael Nutkins, 25, as they reached 177-8. Chris Ayre took 5-40 and Paul Charlton 3-23 as Hartford were dismissed for 148.
Appleton 2nd were well beaten by The Groves after the Wirral side totalled 173. Chris Tomlinson, 6-48 was Appleton’s most effective bowler. Appleton were dismissed for 114, with Marcus Pepper and Andy Peters each scoring 18.
Appleton 4th lost by 10 wickets after being tumbled out for 72.
Rylands 2nd also went down heavily, losing by nine wickets after being bowled out for 116.
Women’s cricket
WARRINGTON’s unbeaten run in the ECB Women’s Premier League North came to an end when they went down by 46 runs at Sheffield United.
A ragged bowling display and a failure to support leading batsman Dawn Prestidge were the main contributors to their downfall.
Warrington maintained their usual high fielding standards, however the Sheffield total was boosted by an unacceptable number of wides. Kate Harvey returned a league career best 3-34, but none of the bowlers escaped the jitters.
Warrington started their reply slowly and at 120-3, with Prestidge having reached 54, the foundations for victory were undoubtedly in place.
Unfortunately Prestidge’s wicket heralded a major collapse, with Aimee Simms running through the tail with 4-7 in five overs. Sheffield bowled less than one third of the wides sent down by their opponents.
The unbeaten run was inevitably going to end at some stage, and the key issue now is whether Warrington can respond in a positive way to this setback, starting at Meir Heath on Sunday. Warrington remain top of the division.
In the Cheshire League, Appleton dumped Northwich out of the Lovelane Knockout Cup at the last four stage.
There have been plenty of examples of Appleton’s bowlers starring this season, but their batsmen have also shone. Here Kim Challis, Anni Rashid, Amy Page and Emma Barlow all reached the retirement score of 25 in a formidable total of 123-2. Oakmere closed 30 runs short on 93-6. Natalie Lyons was the pick of the Appleton attack with 2-9.
