Poynton left to ponder

THIS excellent game of cricket ended in a tie, but it was Poynton who were left wondering how they had failed to win, given that they needed just 14 to win with five wickets left.

Poynton looked to have paced their run chase well, and all of the top six contributed. Adam Williams made 52, his second successive half century and his fourth 50 of the year, but fell to an unnecessary run out.

Dan Haresnape found the gaps superbly in making 40 from 35 balls, with eight fours, and Damian Stringer and Nathan Baxter both reached the twenties.

However, the pressure told in the last five overs, and there were two wickets each for Mark Flattley and Alex Barber, before a final freakish run out.

With the scores level, two balls left and the wicketkeeper standing well back to speedster Flattley, Poynton saw the opportunity to run a bye to the wicketkeeper.

His throw missed the striker’s end stumps by a distance, but went on to hit the bowler’s end stumps and claim the final wicket.

The Romiley wicket was heavily green tinged, and prodigious lateral movement was on offer, but on a fairly small ground with a fast outfield, it was sometimes difficult to keep the batters tied down.

It all made for fantastic cricket.

Flattley, James Badrock and David Badrock all fell in the 30s in the Romiley innings – Flattley after making his 33 from just 17 balls at the top of the card.

The top scorer though was Sam Astley, who finished unbeaten on 43 after unbelievably hitting all of the last four balls of the innings for six!

Poynton captain Jimmy Williams turned in another exemplary spell, taking 6-51 in 19 overs.