Macc fall short chasing rivals
ON a very Royal, sporty and sunny Saturday, Victoria Road saw Macclesfield take on Stockport CC 1st XI in what turned out to be a gripping contest for the healthy number of spectators watching on, in a game sponsored by East Cheshire Mortgages.
Macclesfield won the toss and elected to field first. Stockport began strongly with the bat however, punishing any wayward bowling.
Macc managed to peg the visitors back to 60-3 though, through some tight bowling from Craig Melrose, whilst John Birchall claimed three quick wickets.
The hosts just couldn’t quite build on this good spell of bowling however, as Stockport rebuilt through captain Sam Edwards and opener Zafar Jatoi.
The pair took Stockport past the 100-mark before Birchall struck again, bowling Jatoi for 49, leaving the score on 103-4, near the midway point of the Stockport innings.
The visitors showed further resilience though and there were no signs of another breakthrough for Macc any time soon, as the afternoon sunshine continued and the wicket became flatter and flatter to bat on.
Edwards and Calum Davies batted well and slowly began to take the game away from Macc as they edged up to 150-4 with plenty of overs still to go.
The pair batted intelligently, taking the odd risk, pushing the singles around and capitalising on anything loose.
Macc did eventually get their breakthrough though when Edwards (54) chipped one up to Khalid Sawas at midwicket off the bowling of Rob Porter. Stockport were now 175-5, with around 10 overs to go.
Davies carried on hitting boundaries and rotating the strike, and found support in Patrick Firth (16) as another crucial partnership developed for Stockport towards the end of their innings. The duo put on 48 more runs for the newly-promoted side as the visitors finished strongly.
Macc did take a couple more wickets in the latter overs as Birchall completed his five-wicket haul, finishing with figures of 5-66 off his 15 overs, and Chris Moores (2-55) bowled Davies, for a well-made 63 and then Mike Eley first ball, as Stockport posted a very competitive score of 230-8 in their 50 overs.
Macc’s run chase started badly, as Birchall was caught behind off the first ball of the innings. from the bowling of Eley, leaving Macc 0-1.
This brought Sawas to the crease, who calmly went about playing himself in. At the other end, Peter Barron hit a few early boundaries in a quickfire 33 as Macc reached 40-1 inside six overs. However, Stockport introduced off-spinner Adam Porter into the attack and with his very first ball he dismissed Barron, backed up with a great catch at first slip by Jatoi, meaning Macc were now 40-2.
Not long after, Rob Porter (4) was caught behind off the bowling of Eley as he claimed his second wicket of the afternoon, leaving Macc on 49-3.
The hosts were really up against it now and it would take a special knock from either Sawas or incoming batsman, Tom Isherwood, if Macc were to have any chance of chasing down this big total.
The Macc batsmen showed skill and determination to negotiate the next few overs, keeping up with the required rate whilst staying intact. The pair took the score past the 100-mark and were slowly bringing Macc back into the game. Sawas brought up his fifty through some classy batting, while Isherwood struck some strong boundaries at the other end.
However, just as Macc were slowly getting on top, Porter struck again as he athletically caught Isherwood for 26 off his own bowling, leaving the score on 124-4 around the midway point of Macc’s innings.
This brought youngster Miles Bradshaw to the crease who supported Sawas expertly.
Showing maturity, Bradshaw batted in a composed fashion, hitting the odd, stylish boundary but mainly nullifying the threat posed by both Stockport’s spinners now working in tandem.
Bradshaw pushed the singles around, bringing Sawas on to strike, as the pair went about chasing the remaining runs down.
Sawas began to pick up the pace now as Macc went passed the 150mark. Each passing over brought another Macc boundary as Sawas, with the support of Bradshaw, roared towards his century, bringing up the milestone in fine fashion, as he hit three consecutive boundaries.
It was a truly sensational innings and had given Macc a fighting chance of winning the game, but there was still a long way to go.
Stockport were not done yet either though, and just when Macc were looking like the possible favourites, spinner Porter struck yet again, as Bradshaw was caught down the legside for a very well made 13.
And then Stockport swung the balance yet again, this time taking the wicket of talisman Sawas as he was caught behind off the spin of Mark Green for a quite outstanding 106. This now left the score on 188-6 and with two new batsmen at the crease, it really was anyone’s game.
Unfortunately for Macc they lost two more quick wickets as Stockport increased the pressure, bowling good areas. The run rate wasn’t an issue for the hosts as they had plenty of overs left, but with just two wickets in hand and 38 more runs still required, it was looking like the visitors would claim victory.
Chris Moores and Jim Melrose offered some hope, taking the score past 200, but when Moores (7) was adjudged LBW, Stockport bowled Macc out two balls later for 202, from 40.4 overs.
It was a disappointing result for Macc, in what had been a good game of cricket. Stockport take the 25 points, to Macc’s seven.
Meanwhile Macclesfield 2nd XI lost away at Grappenhall by six wickets. The away side posted 151 all out in their 50 overs, with Alex Griffiths (39) and Chris France (38) top scoring.
With the ball, France took 3-56 off his 11 overs, but Grappenhall ran out comfortable winners, chasing down the score for the loss of just four wickets inside 36 overs.
Ashley CC 2nd XI hosted Macclesfield 3rd XI as the away side picked up a credible draw. Ashley posted 240-5, and Macc responded with an admirable 213-6, as Dan Ackerley (36), James Coombes (48) and Ishan Jain (74 not out) were all in the runs for Macc.