WARRINGTON closed the gap on league leaders Lindow by beating them by one wicket in a nail-biting finish away from home.
The hosts won the toss and chose to bat first only to be dismissed for 202, James Rudd taking 3-44, Rob Batey 2-45 and Brad Roden 2-17.
Warrington struggled for runs and at 100-5 did not look likely winners. But Will Fleetwood’s 57 came at a crucial time and enabled the last pair to scramble the 14 runs needed.
The result leaves Warrington still second to Lindow in the Vivio Cheshire County League division two, 18 points adrift.
Both teams have won seven games and Lindow are ahead only on batting and bowling bonus points.
Warrington 2nd won at home to Brooklands after restricting the visitors to a below-par 115-8. Isaac Webster took 3-15, Simon Hewitt 2-24 and Dan Rudd 2-29.
The home side knocked off the runs for the loss of four wickets, Shashwat Rusha hitting 38 and Matthew Tyrell 30 not out.
Up in the premier division, Grappenhall continued their search for a much-needed victory without success, despite a much improved batting performance
Batting first Grappers posted 188 all out at Toft. Ben Bodha was the pick of the batsmen with a patient 72 in the middle of the innings and Will Fell contributing at the top of the order with 34. But Grappenhall’s bowlers struggled as Toft built a number of partnerships on their way to chasing down the total.
Skipper Adam Roylance picked up 3-42 but Toft reached their target with six wickets and nine overs to spare.
Grappenhall 2nd got the better end of a drawn game with Toft at Broad Lane.
Grappers posted a decent 210 all out in the last over of their 50, with Iain Wright batting superbly for 94, Martyn Jenks chipping in with 38.
Despite a good start after tea with Grappers picking up early wickets they were unable to do enough to win the game as the Toft batsmen dug in for a draw, some 50 runs short of the target. Stanley Pennington picked up three wickets and Alex Perry two.
Grappenhall 3rd lost at home to Cheadle in a tight finish as the visitors won with three balls to spare. Grappers batted first and lost early wickets before crawling to 143 all out from only 40 overs, with Tom Clarke the pick of the batsmen with 38 and David Coyne and Ben Clissold also getting into the 30s. Cheadle had 50 overs to chase down the below par total. In response Grappers bowlers were superb as they made Cheadle fight for the win. Wickets were hard to come by but as the game progressed and scoring slowed Grappers sensed an unlikely victory with wickets now beginning to fall. Unfortunately Cheadle knocked off the total with three balls and two balls to spare.
In the UKFast Cheshire League division one, Lymm Oughtrington Park picked up an emphatic victory at lowly Weaverham.
Batting first, Lymm reached 236-6 in 45 overs opener Matt Lucas top scoring with 74 and Sam Pendlebury hitting 58.
Weaverham never looked in the hunt, despite some late hitting that enabled to reach 138 after being 41-5.
Andy Hossack took 4-38, Travis Scholes 2-38 and Pendlebury 2-26.
In the drawn 2nd XI game at Oughtrington Lane, Weaverham batted first and reached 217-5.
Lymm batted solidly in reply and were 181-3 at the close. Graham Waumsley hit 55, Shovan Chattergee 50 and Rob Worsfold 40 not out.
In division two, Appleton finally climbed off the bottom of the table after a high-scoring drawn at fellow strugglers Wilmslow.
Joe Cooper claimed 3-44 as the hosts were restricted to 211-8.
In response, Ali Sharif top-scored with 67 and Amir Aslam chipped in with 54 as Appleton claimed maximum batting points before running out of overs, finishing on 187-7.
Appleton 2nd hung on for a nailbiting draw against Barnton at Lyons Lane.
Barnton hit 239-6, but their decision to bat their full allocation of overs came back to haunt them as a middle order collapse from Appleton left them 152-9 with just seven deliveries remaining. The final pair not only saw out the remaining deliveries, but were able to find the eight runs needed to secure two more batting bonus points.
Appleton 3rd gave table-toppers Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge a run for their money but ultimately lost by five wickets at the Grange. Appleton’s total of 105 always looked short, but when Appleton reduced their visitors to 16-4, a shock victory looked possible. Unfortunately Appleton could only find one more wicket as Ladybridge reached their target with 13 overs to spare.
The 4th XI beat their own record of the previous week by posting 86 all out at North East Cheshire – the highest total NE Cheshire have conceded this season. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to win as the home side cruised to their target in just 12 overs.
Glazebury went down at Wistaston Village after being bowled out for a disappointing 121 which owed much to opener Jack Warhurst’s 44 and 33 extras!
The homesters reached their target with four wickets down, Warhurst and Kyle Keeble taking two each.
Glazebury 2nd went down by eight wickets to Bunbury at Hurst Lane.
They were bowled out for 92 and the visitors knocked off the runs for the loss of two wickets.
Stretton won at home after hitting 204-7 against Prestbury, who were bowled out for 158.
A high scoring match at Cheadle Hulme saw Stretton 2nd go down by one wicket.
Stretton batted first and hit 228, Abbinay Shrivastava top scoring with 50.
The home scraped home with a wicket to spare.
WOMEN’S CRICKET
APPLETON 2nd XI coasted to a six wicket victory at Stockport Georgians in the Cheshire Women’s Cricket League division two.
The home side batted first but lost early wickets and were restricted to 110-8. Rebecca Othick, 2-6, was the pick of Appleton’s bowlers
Appleton reached their target in 30 overs, Charlotte Cross top scoring with 25.
In division three, a depleted Lymm Oughtrington Park were held to 70-8 by tight bowling by visitors Didsbury, who then hit off the runs in the 18th over for the loss of two wickets.
The two results left Appleton third from bottom in division two while Lymm Oughtrington Park are well adrift at the foot of division three..
