Grappers show improved form in tense draw

GRAPPENHALL’S much-improved form continued on Saturday as they fought out a tense draw at title hopefuls Toft in the Vivio Cheshire County League premier division.
Toft batted first and scored a decent 226 all out off 51 overs with Sam Guest taking 3-48 and and Raki Rao 3-53.
Grappers’ batsmen batted well with openers Pete Barnes and Steve Rooney setting a decent platform which was taken up by Jamie Bye, 38 and the in-form Ben Bodha, 56.
As the game drifted towards a draw Sam Guest smashed 35 off only 19 balls to give Grappers an unlikely chance of victory.
Unfortunately it was not to be as Grappers had to cling on for a draw 10-runs short of a win and with a last pair at the wicket.
Although still bottom of the table as they near the half way point in the season, the last two weeks have given the team hope for the second half.
Grappenhall 2nd won a low scoring match at home to Toft to keep them in the hunt at the top end of the table. Toft were rolled over for 124 with skipper Ross Arrowsmith carrying on his fine form this season with another six wickets. After some needle in the first half the Grappers batsmen went out with a sense of purpose to put their visitors to the sword.
Three early wickets fell but then Jack Critchely and youngster Will Fell batted superbly as they helped the side cruise home. Critchley finished 52 not out and Fell 62 not out.
Grappenhall 3rd were well and truly beaten on Sunday as Alderley Edge won out comfortably. Grappers posted a par 171 all out off 39 overs after having recovered from 80- 8 with tail enders Neil Titchard and Stan Pennington scoring 30s and giving the score line some credibility. The Grappers bowlers struggled from the off and despite several bowling changes the Alderley Edge batsmen were never really in much trouble as they coasted home only two wickets down with plenty of time to spare.
A 21-run victory at Tattenhall kept Warrington in touch with the top clubs in division two.
Warrington batted first and posted 187 – a target that proved too much for the home side who were all out for 166, giving Warrington a full haul of 25 points.
But the 2nd XI clash at Walton Lea went Tattenhall’s way, Warrington only managing to muster 179 in replay to the visitors’ total of 251-7.
Simon Swain, 51, top scored for Warrington and Simo Hewitt, 3-46 and Isaac Webster, 2-74, were the pick of the bowlers.
In the UKFast Cheshire League, it was a black weekend for Lymm Oughtrington Park, who had two matches and lost both heavily.
On Saturday, they entertained Haslington who batted fir a posted 174-9. Syed Khan took 3-30 and Sean Galbraith 4-38.
But then Lymm were tumbled out for a meagre 30 with no one batsman reaching double figures.
On Sunday it was a similar story – again at Oughtrington Lane.
Visitors Congleton batted first and totalled 245-6, Nick Chadbourne taking 2-49. Lymm were bowled out for 93, with Matthw Carr, 23, top scorer.
Lymm 2nd also lost – but not by such an embarrassing margin.
Haslington 2nd hit 232-8, with Jack Hughes, 3-55 Lymm’s most successful bowler.
Lymm replied with 204, Graham Waumsley hitting 49 and Kerry Anderson 65.
Stretton were bowled out for 179 away at Irby, S Malic hitting 59 and Ehsan Malik 32. The home side reached their target with six wickets to spare.
At Stretton, the 2nd XI were humbled for 59 by visitors Barnton who took the honours with 61-1.
Glazebury batted first against Wistaston at Hurst Lane and reached 150, Kyle Keeble 42 and Simon Green 32 not out.
The visitors reached their target with eight wickets down, despite Sam Stanier’s 5-42.
Appleton continued their push for promotion with a comfortable win at Holmes Chapel. Amir Aslam took 4-33 as the home side were bowled out for 178 from the final ball of their innings.
A fine innings of 62 from 62 balls from Lee Stoll saw Appleton home with three overs to spare.
Appleton 2nd suffered a final ball heartbreak at home against Barrow.
Paul White 62 and Liam Mannion 42 saw the hosts post 182-9 from their 45 overs. But Barrow timed their chase to perfection with a boundary from the final ball of the game sealing a three wicket win.
Appleton 3rd were beaten at league leaders Kerridge. Despite posting 149-9 with 39 from Simon Tomlinson, the visitors could only take four wickets as Kerridge reached their target in 31 overs.
Appleton 4th team secured a draw with Europa Exiles. The visiting side made hay on flat pitch before declaring on 271-7, but their caution cost them dear as Appleton batted out their overs to reach 136-6 when stumps were drawn.