For Macc CC
Captain Cross again won the toss and elected to send the visitors out to bat at Victoria Road. Macclesfield got off to a good start as openers Bradshaw and Moores took a wicket each to dismiss the top two batsmen.
The away side rebuilt well through Muhammed Shahbaz Bashir and Stefan Stubbs as the pair saw off the opening spells. Massey was next to strike for Macclesfield when he had Stubbs caught for 21. Cross then took the wicket of Bashir for 40.
This brought captain Jack Goode to the middle alongside Gareth Cresswell and the duo looked comfortable against the changes in bowling, looking to make a strong total.
A dropped catch early in the partnership proved costly as the pair shared 103, as both batsmen reached a half century before falling for 59 and 51 respectively; both to Bradshaw’s bowling. Congleton finished their innings on 217-7 from the 50 overs.
In reply, Congleton got off to a great start when Jack Higginbotham bowled Bradshaw in the first over. At the other end the other opening bowler Leese also struck in having Moores caught for 1.
Macclesfield then looked to rebuild through Mattsson and Sam Buckingham, the latter was first to fall for 21, chipping back to the bowler.
Leese then had his third wicket of the afternoon when he had Mattsson caught on the boundary for 34.
Cross and Birchall looked to add impetus and add valued runs before both being dismissed in the 30s.
Bashir then dismissed Tom Carter and took the tie in favour of the visitors. Young pair Jack Massey and Ben Curwen then batted nicely in looking to give Macclesfield a chance but when they fell for 32 and 13, Congleton looked confident to win.
As the tension rose, debutant Will Jennings alongside Sam Hughes batted excellently to seal a draw for Macclesfield, facing 53 and 6 balls respectively as the 1st XI finished 189/9 and taking an important seven points from the afternoon.
THE 2nd XI were also in action on Saturday and came up just short against a strong Hyde team.
Batting first, Macclesfield posted 208/9 from their 50 overs. James Coombes opened the batting and got the side off to a good start with 43 runs. Captain for the day Adam Longshaw then batted very well in reaching a half century before being dismissed for 56.
Late runs from Robin Farmer (32), Henry Mitchell (17) and Will Jennings (24) set Hyde a testing total to chase in the second innings.
After an early wicket from Ben Farmer, Hyde rebuilt well through opener Keshana Fonseka (67) and support from the middle order. Jason Ebbrell (40) then batted quickly to set up a successful run chase for the hosts.
Macclesfield fought back through Sam Hughes and Liam Markie taking three wickets a piece before number 10 batsman Lewis Barham shared a 50 partnership with Ebbrell to see Hyde home with a 2-wicket win.
Elsewhere, the 3rd XI lost to Timperley back at Parkside.
Bowling first, Macclesfield restricted the visitors to 162 all out. The away side predominantly looked to hit boundaries very often, but clever captaining and bowling set good traps to dismiss multiple batsmen.
Stephen Whittingham (4-38) starred with the ball alongside Steve Moores (2-21) and Miles Horner (2-57).
In reply, multiple of the Macclesfield top order got starts but struggled to push on to set up a strong run chase. Sanchit Shukla (4-27) and Vijay Anand (3-24) bowled very well to pressure Macclesfield, but Richard Flint top scored for Macclesfield scoring 28 as the 3rd XI were eventually bowled out for 107, losing by 55 runs.
The 4th XI lost on their travels to Haslington. Batting first, Macclesfield were bowled out for 105 in 30 overs.
Will Morris opened the batting and remained not out, scoring 42 in a great individual performance.
Unfortunately, Morris saw partners come and go with only Aju Clement and Ginto George reaching double figures. Haslington chased the total with the loss of 3 wickets.
To finish the weekend, the Sunday XI travelled to Lindow to face a very strong side. Macclesfield travelled with an extremely young side including 5 under 13s in the team, who put in great performances in the situation put in front of them. Lindow posted 221-6 with Ollie Mitchell taking three wickets.
In reply Macclesfield made 145 before being bowled out in the final over. Richard Flint (26), Henry Mitchell (22) and Ayan Ghosh (19) batted well for Macclesfield.