Seconds fail to get to grips with run chase

MACCLESFIELD’S seconds match against Stockport Georgians was a classic game of two halves as a spirited bowling and fielding performance was followed by a rather abject batting effort.

Opening the batting for Georgians, Dodd made an excellent 77 but only after surviving several early LBW appeals and it’s a shame that Georgians FrogBox was not working until the day after as Macc may have asked for some DRS reviews.

After a good opening stand of 54, broken when Henry Mitchell induced an edge to the keeper, Macclesfield applied pressure as shown by the fact skipper Kibble – batting at No3 – took 34 balls to make four before being bowled by Curwen, the first of his two wickets.

Long spells from Otis Palmes and Mubeen Chaudry were rewarded with three and two wickets respectively. Late order aggression from Georgian’s Ben Duckworth - hitting a quick 45 - produced some acceleration for his team who ended their 50 overs on 198-8.

There’s little to say about the Macclesfield innings other than they lost early wickets in the chase and fell into the trap of trying to stay at the crease without keeping the score moving, allowing the home team to keep the pressure up and make regular inroads and ultimately win comfortably.

Andy Moores top scored with 13 and Henry Mitchell did well to bat out 51 balls for his 6 not out.

Macclesfield seconds will be hoping that good player availability and an upturn in luck will help them start to climb up the table with some muchneeded wins in the following weeks.