Wedgwood have a day to forget as they slip to seven wicket loss
WEDGWOOD had a day to forget at Hanford in their NSSCL Division Three opener, slipping to a seven wicket defeat.
Wedgwood won the toss and opted to bat, but were skittled for 133.
Rizwan Ramzan was the only batsman to really get to grips with conditions, making an unbeaten 56, as Jordan Stanway (3-17) and Atique Khan (3-27) shared six wickets.
Hanford slipped to 11-2 in reply, but a third-wicket stand of 103 between Arris Ziad and Abeed Akhtar redressed the balance.
Akhtar fell for 45 with the winning line in sight, but Ziad was there at the end, on 53 not out, to complete the victory. Oliver Wilson took two wickets for Wedgwood.
Cheadle seconds emerged victorious on their visit to Longton seconds.
Jack Degg and Thomas Degg compiled 36 and 34 respectively in Cheadle’s 140 all out.
Brodie Mack (3-17) took the Longton bowling honours, while Josh Clayton, Jacob Garlick and Matt Willis all struck twice.
Longton made decent progress to 71-3 in response - led by Euan Hurst’s 33 and Luke Woodward’s 27 - but couldn’t deal with a Cheadle fightback
Jack Winfield claimed 3-28 and there were two wickets apiece for James Jackson and Ryan Harvey as Longton were dismissed for 123 to earn the visitors a 17-run triumph.
Eccleshall seconds got the better of their Stone SP counterparts on the first weekend. Half-centuries from Sohaib Shah (64) and Craig Sinclair (50) guided Eccleshall to 183-7 from their 40 overs.
Henry Mountford and Jack Harvey claimed a couple of wickets apiece.
James Burton (46) and Richard Harvey (37) impressed in the
Stone SP chase, but Chris Gask’s 4-20 left them all out for 172.
Callum Bacon marked his competitive debut as Crewe’s new captain with a match-winning innings as they kicked off their campaign in style.
The Cheshire side ventured to Hem Heath seconds and returned with a six-wicket win, largely thanks to their skipper’s batting performance.
Set 140 to win, Bacon led from the front with an unbeaten 68, which featured 11 fours, to see his side to their target with more than 12 overs to spare.
Tate Rutter played his part with 34, while earlier in the day it was Adrian Cockett (3-23) who stole the show for Crewe.
Cockett’s display, allied to double strikes from Ollie Jarvis and Shaukat Bashir, ensured Hem Heath were bowled out for 139. Khaled Ullah top-scored with 29 not out.
Meakins seconds had Zafar
Iqbal to thank for their victory at Checkley seconds.
Set 177 to win, Meakins openers Steph Butler (34) and Tom Fox (25) laid firm foundations.
Dan Amos (4-27) and Peter Appleboam (3-21) soon had the contest on a knife-edge, but Iqbal rode to the visitors’ rescue.
He hit 76 not out to lead his side to their target with an over to spare.
Moddershall & Oulton seconds had plenty left in the tank in their win at Audley.
Audley posted 158-4, which was centred around an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 115 between Sam Orme and Andrew Joynson.
Orme was unbeaten on 61 and Joynson finished on 55 not out.
In reply, Rory Jones, who had earlier taken two wickets, struck 39 to front the chase.
Gareth Mcaloon added 33 not out and Jono Whalley made 26 to see the Modd men to a five-wicket win in just 31 overs.