Back-to-back victories for Appleton

APPLETON recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season in the UK Fast Cheshire Cricket League.
They took on Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge at Lyons Lane and the visitors must have thought 193-4 would be a challenging target, Simon Clarke hitting 80 and Matthew Bishop 62.
However, Appleton paced their reply well and reached their target in just 32 overs.
An opening stand of 72 between Martin Cooper, 37 and Chris Morrison, 31 got them off on the right foot and then Graham Rowlands, 32 not out and top-scorer Ali Sharif, 43 from 37 balls, saw them home.
Appleton 2nd had an away-day to forget as they slumped from 74-3 to 89 all out against the Groves.
Despite two wickets apiece for James Darbyshire and Pete MacShane, the Wirral side reached their target with four wickets to spare.
Appleton’s 3rd also had an afternoon to forget at the Grange Sports & Social Club. League-leaders Cheadle Hulme plundered 285-9 from just 39 overs before declaring Appleton had a notional 51 overs to get the runs but were all out for just 81.
Appleton’s 4th had better fortune, drawing their local derby with Glazebury 2nd at Hurst Lane. Opener Ian Black hit 71 as the home side posted 195-8 from 45 overs. Stubborn resistance from Appleton’s batsman left them 103-7 when stumps were drawn. Jack Whitehead took 3-4 for Glazebury.
Lymm Oughtrington Park had a big win at Prestbury, batting first and totalling 231 – largely due to some big hitting by the tail.
Noor Khan hit 59 and Syed Khan 39, hitting three sixes each and Sean Galbraith hit 36.
Earlier, Sean Day had hit 31 and Mathew Carr 28.
The home side were dismissed for 78 , Syed Khan taking 5-42 to round-off a fine all-round performance and Matthew Bradshaw taking 4-17.
Lymm 2nd lost by four wickets at home to Oakmere after being bowled out for 115
Stretton entertained Maritime and picked up a three-wicket victory after restricting the visitors to 171-9.
Travelling to Upton, Stretton 2nd held on for a draw after the home side had hit 190-3. Stretton finished on 127-7, S Praseem top scoring with 46 not out.
Glazebury hit 156-9 at Styal, opening Jack Warhurst hitting 74. The home side reached their target for the loss of six wickets, Warhurst taking 3-28 and Sam Stanier 3-45.
In the Vivio Cheshire County League, Warrington chalked up a two-wicket victory at home to Romiley.
The visitors were bowled out for 126, Chai Gadepalli taking 5-17 and Brad McIntosh 4-29. Warrington replied with 127-8, almost entirely due to Jonathan Fletcher’s fine 67, as only one other batsman, Liam Heaphy, 17 not out, reached double figures.
Warrington 2nd won by 10 runs at Bowdon, batting first and reaching 195, Mark Owens 30, Raj Soni 35 and Simon Hewitt, 36.
The home side were dismissed for 185, with Phil Whelan taking 3-40, Hewitt 2-24 and Soni 2-34.
Grappenhall’s disappointing season in the ECB Premier division continued when they suffered a mauling at the hands of leaders Timperley.
Winning the toss, the home side elected to bat first and totalled a challenging 232all out, despite some fine bowling from Arran McCabe, 5-45 and Rackshith Rao, 3-72.
On recent form, this was a tall order for Grappers’ batsmen who crumbled before the home side’s pace attack and were all out for 77, only three batsmen reaching double figures.
Grappenhall 2nd, facing Timperley at Broad Lane, put up a much better show.
Timperley hit 248-5 before declaring. Neil Titchard was the picked of Grappenhall’s bowling with 3-26.
There was no collapse by Grappers’ batsmen however and at the close there were 236-7 – just 13 runs short of what would have been a remarkable victory.
William Fell hit 82 not out and Stephen Dickson 64.
Grappenhall 3rd were at Didsbury where they lost by 98 runs.
The home side hit 209-4 despite Richard Wiles’ 3-35.
Grappers were back in the pavilion for 111, with Wiles again the stand-out figure with an unbeaten 50.