Cheadle open up 15 point lead at the top of the table
CHEADLE came out on top in the meeting of the North Staffordshre and South Cheshire League Premier Division’s top two, defeating Stone SP by three wickets with just 13 balls remaining.
Stone SP won the toss and batted but they were reduced to 28-4 largely thanks to the pace of Matthew Goodwin, who eventually took 3-45 from his nine overs.
Ben Motley and Daniel Lunn then repaired some of the damage with a stand of 83 before Lunn was caught and bowled by Dale Heath for 37.
Motley went on to be run out for 61 from 97 balls and Austen Crump took 2-27 to prevent Stone from making a larger total.
When Cheadle batted, they were reduced to 22-2 as Mark Hulbert took two early wickets on his way to taking 4-38.
But a stand of 99 between Andrew Coxon and Ali Khan – who hit a run-a-ball 62 including two sixes and five fours – steered the game their way.
Fifteen from Crump and a crucial unbeaten 16 from 17 balls from James Sellers enabled Cheadle to stay ahead of the run rate and remain top of the table after a fourth successive victory.
They have a 15-point lead but then only five points separate the next five teams.
Meanwhile Leek are also beginning to motor with their third successive win being a 27-run success over Moddershall & Oulton at Highfield.
Alex Mellor got the Moorlanders off to a good start with a quick fire 23 and then Khalid Sawas struck 71 including eight fours.
When he was out though, the innings fell away a bit despite cameos from Rory Jackson (25) and Rory Hayden (26).
They were all out for 212 including 39 extras, 23 of them being wides which meant six penalty runs as Moddershall were late bowling their final over. Dan Richardson took 3-37.
Moddershall started at a blistering pace with Rizwan Hussain striking 57 from 71 balls and Sam Kelsall making 51 from 90 balls.
When they took the score to 129-1 a close finish was on the cards, but when those two fell there was no-one else to pick up the pace.
Ryan Ball took 3-40 and Craig Melrose 2-32 as Leek kept chipping away and Moddershall closed on 185-7.
Checkley won by 28 runs at Bagnall Norton after being put in to bat.
Tom Moulton top-scored with 49 and James Cronie added 42 as Checkley amassed 213-8 from their 45 overs.
Bilawal Bhatti took 4-26 in attempting to stem the tide.
Bagnall Norton fell to 20-2 before Shoiab Akhtar (36) and Alex Graham (30) steadied the ship.
They were never able to keep up with the run rate though despite a quick 24 from Greg Willott and 26 from Mark Stokes and they closed on 185-9. Tom Moulton had the best bowling figures with 3-35.
In the basement battle, Whitmore defeated Ashcombe Park by five wickets to climb off the bottom of the table by leap-frogging their opponents.
Ashcombe lost wickets at regular intervals despite 32 from Imran Khalid containing three sixes and were all out for 119.
Northants bowler Graeme White marked his return from injury with remarkable figures of 5-4 from his nine overs.
Whitmore had no trouble knocking off the runs, winning the game with almost 15 overs to spare.
Adeel Arshad (30) and an unbeaten 28 by Mohammed Aqeeb made sure there were no alarms to leave Ashcombe still seeking their first win.