GRAPPENHALL went down by six wickets at Alderley Edge to stay in the Vivio Cheshire County League relegation zone.
But they picked up nine points – mainly due to a solid batting performance – to stay in striking distance of the team above them and safety.
Batting first, Grappers managed a respectable 240 all out. Skipper Adam Roylance hit 59, Ben Bodha 57, Albert Pennington 32 and Jamie Bye 30.
But the home side had little trouble with the Grappenhall attack and reached their target for the loss four wickets in just 34.4 overs.
Arran McCabe took 2-42.
Grappenhall 2nd also lost against the Alderley Edge second string at Broad Lane.
Iain Wright hit a fine 90 as Grappers reached 242-8 and there was good support from Stephen Dickson, 35 and skipper Ross Arrowsmith, 33.
But the target was within the visitors’ sights and they reached it with four wickets to spare.
Arrowsmith took 2-50.
Grappenhall 3rd also lost, but after a more closely fought game at Nantwich.
Richard Wise hit 65 and David Seed, 30, as Grappers totalled a modest 152.
The home side struggled for runs and only managed to reach their target with two wickets to spare thanks to some late hitting by the tail.
Warrington lost at Northwich and a low-scoring match interrupted by rain.
Opener Malcolm Agar’s 50 was the stand-out innings of Warrington’s 126 all out. Only two other batsmen reached double figures!
Northwich coasted to 130-5 despite Warrington using nine bowlers, the pick of which was Chai Gadepalli with 3-35.
Warrington 2nd defeated Cheadle by five wickets at Walton Lea, despite the visitors declaring on a challenging 228-5.
Skipper Simon Swain, 70 and fellow opener Harley Barratt, 77 got Warrington off to a good start and Mark Owens hit 43 not out as the home side coasted to 232-5.
In the UKFast Cheshire League, Lymm Oughtrington Park’s first division status began to look increasingly in doubt as they crashed to a 91-run defeat at Stockport Georgians
The home side declared on 192-7, with Syed Khan’s 5-42 the outstanding bowling performance for Lymm.
But Lymm’s batting was not up to the challenge and they were bowled out for 101, Jake Hughes top scoring with 28.
Stretton were denied victory at Middlewich where the home side batted out the overs to finish on 116-7 in a rain interrupted game.
Stretton had earlier declared on 190-8 with A Zubain top scoring with 57.
Appleton lost ground on their promotion rivals after slumping to a 70 run defeat against table-toppers Heaton Mersey at Lyons Lane.
Three wickets apiece for Andy Thomas and Amir Aslam could not prevent Heaton Mersey from posting 217 in an innings interrupted by rain.
Set a revised target of 218 from 41 overs, Appleton slumped to 68-6 before a defiant 76 from Liam Mannion helped them pick up priceless batting points. The home side were eventually bowled out for 147.
Appleton 2nd lost their local derby away at Stretton by seven wickets. A fine 47 from Chris Morrison and contributions from Richard Buck and Phil Pugh helped the visitors post 177. But the bowlers were unable to keep control of the match as they were only able to take three wickets as Stretton romped to victory, Prasant Nanda top scoring with 58.
Appleton 3rd were defeated away at Trafford Metrovics. Despite 43 not out from Anthony Hurst, Appleton were only able to post 99 on a difficult pitch. Ten-man Appleton could only take two wickets as the hosts reached their target with 17 overs to spare.
Glazebury went down by five wickets at Tranmere Victoria after being bowled out for 111, Russ Jones top-scoring with 28 and Sam Stanier hitting 20.
*Up-to-date league tables and other details for the Cheshire County League can be found at http://cheshirecountycl.play-cricket.com/ and for the Cheshire League at http://cheshirecl.play-cricket.com/
